Take Me Away
by wildbats
Summary: A Greg centered story starts just before the civil trial. Can Greg deal with the civil trial coming up and a possible new girlfriend? Will things turn from good to bad?
1. Chapter 1

The early spring heat wave was not welcomed in Sin City this day by the team of CSI's working the double homicide. They were already on overtime and it was not even noon yet. There was at least 3 more hours of work to be done.

The shootings of two young adults in there twenties happened in the parking lot after a rock concert got out late. The parking lot had been full of witnesses but the problem was the gunman had been marked and since it was dark, everyone was not able to describe him well. But due to all those witnesses it made for an extremely long shift questioning all of them.

Nick Stokes glanced over as his co-workers, who were looking as tired and hot as he was. There were only a couple more witnesses to finish questioning, but then they still had more processing to do back at the crime lab.

Nick went back to questioning one of the last witnesses.

Another hour had passed by the time the CSI team rejoined together for a huddle before heading back to the lab with all the evidence they had collected.

Gil Grissom looked at his crew as he handed out water bottles to each of them. Each one of them gratefully guzzled down the bottles. "I know it's been a long, hot shift, but we still have a couple more hours of work to put in back at the lab. Catherine and I will go with Brass to the two victims houses. Warrick and Sara, I need you two to start with all the evidence we collected. Greg and Nick, you two need to go over all the witnesses statements and see what we can find there."

They finished putting all their stuff into their SUV's and headed off in their separate directions.

In the one Denali headed back to the lab, Nick drove while Greg Sanders sat next to him in the passenger seat with his head resting against the headrest. The youngest CSI sighed loudly. "Man, what is with this heat so early in the year? I felt like I was about to pass out. Plus some of those witnesses were getting incredibly grouchy."

Nick laughed and glanced at his friend and co-worker. "Yeah, I know what you mean I had this kid, who had to be on something, about to start a fight with me simply because I asked him if I could get his parent's names. I don't understand how you can go to some of these concerts nowadays with these kids?"

Greg had his eyes closed, head still resting back. "Well being I am working so much lately, I really have not had to deal with it, since I can never get time off to go to any."

"Yeah, I hear ya, man. " The rest of the short ride back to the lab they remained silent.

After arriving back at the lab and unloading the SUV, they headed to the break room to refuel. They both got energy drinks and grabbed some pre-made sandwiches out of the vending machine. Warrick and Sara ended up joining them a few minutes later.

They discussed the case some before taking off doing their separate tasks. Greg and Nick stayed in the break room sorting through all the witness reports and finding the common thread among them.

Pretty much from the 46 witness reports, they got that the suspect was wearing a black hoodie and in black pants. His face was mostly covered from view due to the hoodie and some sunglasses he was wearing. He came out from nowhere, seemingly and shot the two victims of which seemed to be his target. All of the witnesses at that point seemed to dive for cover and did not see where the shooter ran off.

"Well, I sure hope the others are having better luck than we are. All these and not one decent lead to go on," Nick griped.

"Hmmm, I don't know about that," Greg smiled to himself. Nick eyes Greg suspiciously. "Greg," he said in an elongated tone.

Greg looked up innocently at Nick. "What? Can I help it if this one hottie gave me her phone number?"

Nick chuckled. "Is she at least of age?" Greg frowned. "Give me some credit, Nick. Yes, of course she was. She is actually only a year younger than me. One of a few in that crowd that was."

Nick was curious now. "So just how hot was she, Casanova?"

Greg grinned, his brown eyes showing his excitement. "She was hot and it was not just due to the heat. She had long, wavy brown hair and these amazing, big green eyes. And mind you, she started the flirting first. It was not me."

Nick smirked. "Okay, so you say. So when is the wedding?"

"Ha ha, very funny. With my schedule I'll be lucky if I ever get to see her again."

"Don't you have a couple days off coming up," Nick asked.

"Well not really. I got the court date coming up on those days." Greg's expression dimmed as he thought about the civil trial coming up for Demetrius James' death.

Nick saw his expression change. He knew this had been a rough few months for him. "Ah yeah, I forgot about that. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's okay. I'll just be glad to have it over with, whatever the outcome is at this point."

Just then Grissom walked into the room with Brass in tow. "You two got anything decent to report from the witnesses statements," Capt. Jim Brass asked them.

"Not really. Basically we can figure it was someone tall, who wore all back, hoodie and sunglasses hiding the face. Hope you got more than we did." Nick looked hopefully at them.

Sara and Warrick walked in behind them and took a couple seats.

"Well, we know that the two victims were friends and seemed to be heavily into drugs. So we are probably looking at some drug related shooting."

"All right, we will let the day shift take over for now. You all go home and get some rest."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Greg was sitting at home trying to sleep when he decided to try giving Eve, the girl who's phone number he got, a call. He got her voice mail and hesitated about leaving a message, but decided to leave one seeing as she was probably at work and unable to answer her phone.

"Uh, hi Eve. This is Greg Sanders, the CSI guy from this morning. _As he said it he realized how stupid that sounded but carried on anyway. _ I'm at home right now so you can reach me at 555-1565. Maybe we can set up a lunch date or something sometime soon. Bye, hope to hear from you soon."

He hung up the phone and felt like a fool. He realized just how long it had really been since he had asked anyone out. For so long he pined over Sara, trying to get her to go out with him but she never budged. He finally decided they were just meant to be friends and nothing else. It was time for him to move on. Plus with everything going on this past year with the Demetrius James case, he was longing to have someone outside of work to talk to about how he felt.

He did not feel comfortable telling Nick or Sara that he still had trouble sleeping at night or that he was extremely anxious about the civil trial and what the outcome could mean to him and maybe his career.

He still knew that if he came upon the same scene again today, he would try to save the man. He just wished that Demetrius James had run away. If he had run away he would not have had these problems. He would be sleeping peacefully again.

He woke up to his cell phone ringing. He guessed he finally managed to doze back off. He looked at the time on his phone and saw it was already 6:30pm. Only a couple hours until his shift began.

He flipped open his phone and smiled when he saw who was calling. "Hello?"

"Hi! Is this Greg," the pleasant sounding female voice asked.

"Yes it is. I am assuming this is Eve since my called ID said so."

"Ah, so I see you really do know how to investigate things. Yes, your deductive reasoning is correct, this is Eve. I just got a chance to call you back. We had a major group check in today and I had to stay until they were all here."

Greg though for a second, trying to remember where she said she worked again. Then it dawned on him. She was an assistant manager at the Rio Resort and Casino.

"That's okay. I have to go back into work in a couple hours anyway. I was just getting up," he said as he was literally getting out of bed.

"Oh yeah, you work night shift, don't you? I guess that makes sense why you proposed a lunch date. Well just let me know when you are able to do it. I am game."

Greg was smiling to himself. This was definitely a girl he wanted to get to know better. "Well, I am never quite sure when exactly I will be out of work. We hardly ever really end on time. I guess we could tentatively schedule a time and a place and I can call you probably ah hour before to confirm. Would that be okay?"

She agreed it would be okay. So they scheduled to meet for lunch the next day approximately a half hour after he got off shift.

When he got off the phone with her, he felt as though things might finally be improving for him again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

The workday was half over. The CSI's were still working on the double homicide from the night before. DNA and fingerprints had been found on some things at the victim's houses. They ran the tests to see if they could get any leads on who the killer might be. They ended up getting a couple of hits in CODIS and AFIS on known drug dealers. They split into teams, each having a detective with them to question some of the suspects.

Greg and Nick were teamed with Dot. Varian. Their suspect ended up having a valid alibi for the time of the murder the night before.

Dot. Varian drove back to LVPD in his own vehicle, while Nick and Greg went back to the lab in their Denali.

Greg was driving when Nick noticed he seemed to be in more of a hurry to get back to the lab than normal. "What's the rush, G?" Greg glanced at him, a full grin on his face. "I'm just ready for this shift to be over."

"Isn't your court case tomorrow?" Greg's grin faded fast. "Yeah, it is. Stop reminding me."

"I thought you wanted to get it over with?"

"I do, it's just, well, you know." Greg really did not want to have to think about it today. The next couple of days would be hell enough for him.

Nick decided to let that topic drop, as he knew it always brought Greg's mood down. "So, why the rush for shift to be over then? Got a hot date?"

"As a matter of fact…" His grin was back again. "You already for a date with that girl from the scene yesterday?" Nick's voice showed that he was impressed.

"Yep, a lunch date I hope I can make on time."

"You sly dog, you. You don't waste no time." Nick chuckled. Greg shook his head, still smiling.

Nick was glad Greg was going out after shift. He needed the distraction from his case and hopefully this girl and him would work out.

Back at the lab, Grissom got them together informing them they had a suspect in custody. After Brass and he got to a Jerome Bennett's house, they found him running out the back door through neighbors' yards. The other officers on the scene managed to trap him and arrested him. They found a gun in his possession that matched the one used in the murders. He was being held until Bobby Dawson finished comparing the bullets to see if they matched.

There was nothing new to be worked on so it was one of the rare days they all got to go home on time. Greg was in the locker room, changing his shirt, when Grissom walked in.

"Greg," he called out trying to get the young CSI's attention. Greg turned to Grissom. "Hey Gris, what's up?"

"I just wanted to wish you good luck on the civil trial tomorrow. I am sure everything will go fine." Greg had already heard the same thing from everyone else already. He was sick of it, but he did appreciate Grissom coming to him and saying it. It meant the most coming from him. He had been the first person to visit Greg in the hospital after the beating. He also advised him to get his own lawyer through the union. That advice greatly helped him in being able to deal with the case a lot better.

"Thanks Grissom. I am hoping you are right." Greg did not fake a smile with Grissom like he had with the others. He knew Grissom would see right through it. Greg nodded off to him and headed out of the locker room.

Grissom knew that this case had been nagging on Greg's nerves ever since Demetrius James died. Grissom was still rather mad that the hospital had them roomed next to each other. Greg acted like it was nothing, but Gil knew that seeing Demetrius James die had really eaten at him. He had noticed a major change in Greg ever since that day. He was not the wacky lab rat that he remembered hiring over 8 years ago. He had become more serious since coming out in the field, but he still has his sense of humor about him. Lately that was hard to find. Grissom only hoped the trial turned out in favor of Greg and that a weight would be lifted off his shoulders.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Greg sat waiting at a table inside Café Lago. He was surprised he got there before Eve had. He was not sure what to expect when he saw her this time. The only time he had seen her was after the concert, where she was wearing jeans and a well-worn Metallica t-shirt. He was assuming since she was coming from work she would be dressed professionally. He was getting anxious for her to show up.

On her drive over to meet Greg for lunch, Eve found herself thinking about that morning after the concert and having witnessed the two men gunned down. Since her mother had been a lieutenant with the Chicago PD she was no stranger to what kind of violence can take place in the world. Still, she was bothered that it happened so close to where she was.

When the police and their investigators had arrived on the scene, she knew they would all end up being questioned about what went down. She saw a group of 3 male investigators and two female ones. The witnesses were divided into even groups between the five CSI's to be questioned. Eve was the last one in her group.

She watched an older male and a strawberry blonde female CSI continue combing over the scene as the other ones began the questioning process. She took notice that all three male CSI's were very handsome, but took special notice of the CSI who would be questioning her. He seemed younger then the others. She watched him and he seemed to be very serious about what he was doing, but every once in awhile he broke into a great smile.

As it came to her turn to be questioned, she had noticed him taking a double glance at her before asking her name and some other personal information. She told him exactly what she saw happen, all the while casting flirtatious glances at him and smiling a lot. She noticed him becoming a bit embarrassed, having to clear his throat a lot and started looking down at his notebook more often.

When he confirmed with her if that was all she saw, she said yes, but just as he was about to let her go, she mentioned she had one more thing to add.

"I need to give you my phone number, so if you want to go out on a date with me sometime, you can just call," she said quietly enough so only he could hear her. She could feel his eyes on her, even though his sunglasses hid them. He took a few seconds before he said okay and wrote it down.

"So I'll be hearing from you soon then," she slyly asked. He had grinned. "Perhaps." She knew she made an impression on him. She let him get back to his job and left to get ready for her own job.

As she approached the parking lot, she realized just how little she knew about this Greg Sanders, besides him being a Crime Scene Investigator. She didn't even know what his eye color was. She wondered if he had researched her background, not that there was anything to find. She pushed those stupid worries out of her mind as she got out of her car. She walked up to the café entrance and saw him sitting at a table. He looked even cuter than she remembered.

He glanced up as he saw the door open. She wore brown slacks and pink blouse. Her hair was down and waving over her shoulders. She smiled at him as she approached the table. He got up like a perfect gentleman and pulled out her seat for her, then proceeded to take his own again.

"Hi, sorry I am late. I had a guest issue to deal with before I would leave." She opened up the menu in front of her.

"That's okay. I got the rest of today off anyway." Greg felt slightly awkward, but did not show it. He admired her more in her business attire. She still looked younger than her 29 years of age she had told him during his questioning process at the crime scene. Her eyes were still intoxicating to look into.

"So," turning her attention away from the menu and back to Greg. "Did you all find that guy who shot the two in the parking lot, yet?" She was use to asking her mom about her cases and the question just came out as an old habit.

Greg really could not divulge much information on it. "Well we have a suspect in custody right now. Hopefully he is our guy, then it will be all wrapped up." The waitress came and briefly interrupted them to get their orders.

After she left, there was a moment of awkward silence between them. They both ended up speaking at the same time only to both end up laughing.

Greg loved her laugh and how happy she seemed when she did. He was just starting to realize he had never really felt like this over anyone this early before.

"So Greg Sanders, tell me a little about yourself. All I know about you right now is that you work for LVPD and are really cute," she smirked.

"You are forward, aren't you," he chuckled. "Well I am a people person, what can I say." She could not take her eyes off him. She had no idea what expressive, big brown eyes he had hid behind his sunglasses when she first saw him. Between his great smile, beautiful eyes, and his gorgeous wavy hair, she was happy she made the move on him. She had only hoped she would not blow it this time.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

"So are you going to tell me anything about yourself," she persisted on. "Well what do you want to know," he asked her.

"Hmmm, like where you're from, your family, what you like to do for fun, etc. Stuff like that. I'll reciprocate the same about myself," she smiled broadly.

"Fine, well let's see… I am from California. I am an only child. I went to Stanford and got my degree there. I like to listen to rock music and go to concerts when time allows." He had noticed when he mentioned Stanford her eyebrows raised.

"Stanford, impressive," she grinned. "Yeah and I graduated Summa Cum Laude." She smirked. "Most impressive." Greg beamed with confidence now.

"So it is your turn."

"Okay, I am from Chicago area and I have one older brother. I went to UNLV for my degree. I wanted to live here ever since we came on vacation as a little kid, so that all worked out. For fun, concerts, obviously, when I can, and I love taking photos. I am really into nature photography. That is something I do a lot in my spare time. Overall I just try to enjoy my life because you never know when your time might be up."

Greg noticed her expression had become more reflective and wondered who she had lost in her life. Then his thoughts shifted to his case and how what she said was so true.

She noticed his smile fading and was about to apologize for kind of sounding gloomy and doomy, when the waitress arrived with their meals.

After the waitress left them, Eve broke the silence. "I am starving. I skipped breakfast today." Then she dug into her pasta dish.

"Yeah, well this is sort of my dinner, I guess you could say."

She glanced at him. "Oh yes, I suppose you sleep during the day time hours mostly."

"Yes, but I will probably stay up later today since I do not go into work. (_Plus I probably will hardly sleep any tonight, he thought.)_ But I do have to be up early tomorrow morning anyway."

"Oh you have that civil trial tomorrow, don't you?" The second she saw his face grow pale she knew she should have kept her mouth shut.

He almost stuttered his response. "How do you know about that?" He was a bit alarmed now. Was she some sort of stalker?

She clearly saw she had to explain herself fast. "Listen Greg, sorry, I did not mean to blurt that out. I read the newspapers. I watch the news. I did not put it together until this morning that it was you who they were talking about with that civil case. I hadn't really paid attention to the name before until this morning when I read about it in the newspaper. I'm really sorry. I know it must feel like I am prying or something."

Greg did not feel so alarmed anymore, but still was uncomfortable and feeling slightly stupid too. How could he have not realized his case was all over the press after that fiasco he saw at his last court appearance? This one would probably be worse. He silently cursed, hating this whole situation with her knowing about what he had done. He felt guilty somehow.

Eve could see he was struggling with how to deal with her knowing about this. She could not keep it like this. _What a way for me to ruin a date._

"Greg, I know I just sort of blindsided you on me knowing about this, but let me explain something to you. My mother was on the Chicago police force. She was a lieutenant and did her job extremely well. My dad, who was a salesman, always worried on nights when she would be late coming home. Then there was the one night, when the Captain came to the door. I was 14 years old at the time, old enough to understand what his coming to the door at that time of night meant. My dad did not try to push me away from hearing the news." She paused for a moment. Greg could see this was difficult for her.

"To make a long story short, she was killed in the line of duty, trying to protect another person, when she became a victim." She was somber now; the cheery woman who came through the door earlier was gone.

"I told you this so you can understand where I am coming from. I basically understand your job and what it entails. When I first saw about it in the paper, I could not believe the family was suing that CSI, well you, for wrongful death. I do not know the exact details, but I am sure you did what basically you only could do given the situation." Greg only just shrugged his shoulders. She was curious about his reaction.

"Do you think you could have done something differently?" He stared down at his food, picking at his fries. "I don't know. I guess not." He ran his hands over his face, frustrated.

She looked at him, knowing she had just blown any chance she had with him. _Me and my big mouth._ "I'm sorry. I just totally messed up everything. I am an idiot. I should probably leave now anyway. I have to be back to work soon." She started to dig in her purse to grab her wallet to pay for her meal.

Greg reached out to her and grabbed her arm. "Wait! Just wait a moment." His voice was calm as her eyes met his.

"This is weird for me. I have hardly really talked to anyone other than my annoying lawyer about my case and now here I am, talking to a virtual stranger about it." She glanced down at her hands. "I'm sorry. I really am."

"Please, stop saying that!" He chuckled. She looked up at him, surprised at his reaction. "I get that you are sorry. Stop worrying about it." He smiled at her now. They both felt some tension break free. She smiled back at him.

"Okay, no more 'I am sorry's'. Got it!"

"Good, now first off. I am sorry you lost your mother so early and tragically. I can see that you still clearly miss her." She nodded her head, acknowledging that.

"Secondly, I guess I am actually relieved that you can understand my situation. I guess somewhere deep down I was afraid that if you found out, you would be…I don't know…weird about it."

"'Weird about it?'" She laughed. Greg felt embarrassed. "You know what I am trying to say, right?" She smiled at him earnestly.

"Yeah I get what you are trying to say." She sighed and looked at her watch. She really did need to be leaving soon. He noticed her looking at the time. "You really do have to go now, don't you?"

She looked disappointed. "Yes I do, unfortunately. I wish I did not. This did not turn out the way I was hoping it would."

He gazed into her green eyes. "Me either, but it was a good different." Her eyebrows went up. "Really? A _good_ different? Does that mean what I think it means?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Well if you think it means I am willing to try this again, then yes." She smiled. "You are willing to give this idiot another chance?"

"Well I think you are being a bit too hard on yourself, but yes I'd like to see you again." She was pleased. "I'd like to see you again too. So when is the next date?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

Greg stood outside the courtroom all dressed up in one of his suits. Grissom always loved to call them "monkey suits". He wondered why Grissom hated them so much. Maybe it was because the only time he would wear one was to court dates. Taking it from that viewpoint, Greg was starting to agree.

His lawyer, Scott Hill, an older man in his 60's with grey hair and glasses, came up next to Greg, putting his hand on his shoulder. "You ready for this, Greg?" Greg shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I guess as ready as I am going to get. I just want this over with."

"Well I understand and I am sure by tomorrow things will be much better for you." Greg forced a smile. "I hope you are right."

"Stop worrying about it, Kiddo. You'll be fine."

Greg knew his lawyer was trying to lighten his mood, but more than anything he annoyed him.

They filed into the courtroom and took their seats. Greg glanced back when he heard the press commotion from the hallway. The James' were just walking into the courtroom. Immediately Greg felt the heat coming from Aaron James' glare at him. Greg held it for a moment before turning back to face the front of the court. He felt his heart beating faster. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm down his nerves.

The judge was introduced to the courtroom as he took his seat. Judge Richard Cartwright was a good judge, according to Greg's attorney. He told him this was a good sign. Greg just glanced sideways at his attorney and gave him a polite smile. All Greg wanted was this thing to start and be over with just as quick.

The day seemed to drag on forever. The James' attorney kept bringing character witnesses, trying to show what a good kid Demetrius James had been. Greg wondered how such a seemingly good kid got caught up with the gang beatings. He started reliving that night in his mind. He saw Demetrius James turn and look at him with those eerie blue eyes, then proceed to take a large rock and look as thought he would throw it at the victim. But instead he turned around and started running towards Greg in the Denali. What could he have done differently? Letting him throw the rock, shatter his windshield and risk serious injury himself? Or what he did, put the SUV in drive and run into him to stop him. Greg sighed and his lawyer noticed.

"Are you okay, Kiddo," he whispered to him. Greg was sick of being called 'Kiddo' by this guy who hardly knew him.

"Yeah, just tired, I guess," he replied half-heartedly.

"It'll be wrapping up soon for today. Tomorrow is your big day!" _Yippee Skippy,_ Greg thought to himself. He definitely would not get any sleep that night.

About an hour later, the court adjourned for the day. Greg managed to avoid the hounding press on his way out as he did on his way in. They were feeding on the James' party and all the information they were providing them with. Greg did not want to hear any of it.

By the time he got home to his place, he felt exhausted emotionally. It was only a little after 4 in the afternoon. After he took off his 'monkey suit', he sat down on his sofa and turned on whatever came on his TV first. He laid back his head and closed his eyes.

He was startled awake by his cell phone ringing. He grabbed it off his coffee table and answered it without looking at who was calling. "Sanders," he answered groggily. He glanced at his DVD clock and saw it was 5:48pm already. He had dozed off for almost two hours.

"Hey Greg. It's Nick. How did it go today? Did you get on the stand yet?" Greg got up and started walking to his kitchen.

"Hey Nick. It was pretty boring today. Lots of character witnesses for him. Tomorrow is my big day on the stand." Greg grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and went back to his sofa.

"You'll do fine tomorrow. Just do what you did at the coroner's inquest." Once again someone saying the same thing he has heard several times before. He knew they all meant well, but he had grown tired of it.

"Yeah, I know," he responded sluggishly. Nick decided to drop that topic and ask him about something that might go better.

"So how was your lunch date, yesterday?" Greg could not help but grin a bit to himself. "It was kind of different," he said slyly.

"Different good or different bad?"

"Hmmm, I guess I would call it different good, since we decided we would see each other again."

"Sweet! So was she as hot as the first time you saw her?"

"Maybe hotter than the first time I saw her." Nick was interested now in more information about her.

"Hotter, well hopefully she has the personality to match, then?"

Greg was still smiling to himself, glad he had a good friend who was able to pick up his mood. "Well, yeah she definitely has a personality to match. She is actually very fascinating. We had a bit of a rough moment but recovered nicely from it." Greg laughed to himself thinking back on it now.

"Very interesting. Well good luck with her then. Maybe she'll be a keeper." Nick was glad to hear Greg enjoyed his first time out with this girl.

"Maybe she will be," Greg replied, while grinning. He was happy Nick could not see his stupid grin right then.

"Okay then, Greg. We'll all be thinking of you tomorrow. Let us know how it turns out when you get a chance."

"I'll stop by afterward if I can and let you all know, if you are around anyway. Thanks Nick. Say thanks to everyone else for me." Greg hung up the phone feeling a lot better than he had when he first got home.

Maybe he should make another call that night to up his mood even more. He picked up his home phone and grabbed a piece of paper from his tabletop and dialed the number.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N-**This is my first CSI story I have been posting. I know the direction it is going in and it is just a matter of time in trying to type it all up and get it on here. I do appreciate any reviews on the story. Greg is my favorite character and hence why he is the center of my story. Plus I felt he needed a little love in his life after the crappy year he has been having. LOL

* * *

Eve Dunn happened to have just walked in her door about 15 minutes prior when her phone rang. She quickly finished changing into more casual clothes before picking up the phone. 

"Hello Eve! It's Greg. I was not sure you would be home yet." Eve smiled hearing his sexy voice over the phone.

"I just got home a little bit ago. How did your day go?"

"It was sort of boring today. Tomorrow will probably be the more stressful day for me." He felt comfortable speaking honestly with her over the phone about it.

"Yeah I am sure it will be. Just hang in there. Whatever happens at least it should be over with tomorrow, right?"

"I am sure hoping so, but then again if the judgment is against me, I am kind of screwed financially." Greg had been trying not to think of that factor at all, but now that the judgment would probably come tomorrow, he could not help but think of it.

"Well it is cliché to say, but try not to worry about it until it happens. So let's change the subject. Why did you really call me?"

Once again she wasted no time in getting to her point. Greg liked that. "Well, um, what are you doing for the rest of the evening?"

Eve smirked to herself. "Well, is Greg Sanders asking me out for another date already?"

Greg rolled his eyes on his side of the phone, but was smiling nonetheless. "I was kind of hoping for a night out, a movie maybe, to distract me and why go to the movies alone?"

"So I am just a distraction for you," she asked in a half serious tone. "No, not like that. Come on, you know what I mean. Don't you?" He realized he still did not know her all that well yet and maybe would consider him using her only to distract him from his case.

Eve could almost sense his concern on the other end. She wondered if he was able to take jokes or maybe it was just the stress he was under. She liked to think it was the case causing it.

"I was just kidding around with you. A movie sounds great, but we better figure out soon what we want to see because of the time it is already."

Greg was glad she was kidding around. He really needed to lighten up he told himself. "Okay, only I'll have to get on my laptop to get the movie listings." Eve quickly interrupted him.

"Oh no bother. I have today's paper in front of me and it has the listings in it."

So they made plans to see the new Will Farrell comedy. They decided to meet each other at the theater in about 45 minutes.

The rest of their night went well. They enjoyed the movie and Greg was glad he was able to have a few honest laughs. Afterward they went to a diner and grabbed something light to eat. They talked a lot about their likes and dislikes and simply got to know each other better.

On his drive back home, Greg was only thinking of her. He kept thinking how much younger she looked with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had worn blue jeans and a kimono type blouse in black and red. He had been glancing at her during the movie, noticing how beautiful her profile was, along with admiring her laugh. He had totally become smitten with her and he had a good feeling it was a mutual feeling. He had caught her staring at him quite often too.

It was not until he got home and checked his voice mail that the case was brought back to his attention. His distraction method had worked wonders and even though the message from Mr. Hill reminding him what time to be at the courthouse made him think of the case, he was still happy he spent the time he had with Even that evening.

He went to bed with new hope that even if his court case came out against him, he might have found someone to keep him from getting lost in it.

* * *

A date with the courtroom again is next chapter... 


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N -**Another new chapter already. Now things are picking up.

* * *

Greg sat in the courtroom after having a quick pow wow with his lawyer about what he needed to stick to on the stand. There was no way Greg was going to forget what had happened that night. He kept thinking that his lawyer forgot what he did for a living, that evidence and facts were all he was use to dealing with. Those factors were in this favor, even though the emotional evidence rested more with the James' family. He only hoped this jury was not overly influenced by that emotional factor. 

He was up on the stand after the depositions were shown from some of the others. As he was up on the stand he tried avoiding looking in the direction of Aaron James and his mother. Aaron James had already sent him a few deathly glances earlier on. As Greg spoke, he could still feel their eyes on him. He just kept telling himself it was almost over, he just had to finish telling his side of what happened.

After he wrapped up his testimony, the lawyers finished up with their closing statements. They were then adjourned while the jury deliberated. Greg headed to the courthouse cafeteria and grabbed something to eat. His lawyer was with him, but then dismissed himself briefly to take a phone call.

Greg was texting a message on his cell phone to Nick, updating him on the trail when he sensed someone standing near him. Aaron James, dressed in a suit that was obviously only bought for the trail, glared at him with a smirk on his face, but intense anger still in his eyes.

"So Killer, hope you are ready to pay up, although a few million dollars is still not enough to make up for killing my brother." Greg just stared at him sternly, not willing to dignify anything Aaron James said with any kind of response.

Aaron James moved a step closer to him. Greg did not even flinch, keeping his intense brown eyes directly on him. "What's the matter, Killer? Afraid I am right and you are going to get what's coming to you?"

Greg was fighting an inner battle trying not to say anything and hold his position. Aaron made a move towards Greg.

"Hey! You should not be near him." The voice interrupted Aaron James from stepping any closer. Scott Hill, Greg's attorney, came back and had seen his client possibly being threatened by the youngest James.

Aaron James turned around and saw the lawyer. He smirked at him and said, "Just wishing him good luck is all." He made a quick glare at Greg again and was off.

Greg closed his eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. Aaron made him nervous, but more than anything this time around, he made him angry.

Scott Hill took the seat next to Greg. "Hey, are you okay, Kiddo? You look a bit pale?"

"I am fine, damn it! And stop calling me Kiddo," Greg yelled out, shocked by his own reaction. He saw his lawyer's equally shocked expression and immediately regretted the outburst.

"I'm sorry. It's just that…" but his lawyer cut him off before he could finish.

"Greg, I understand, trust me, I do. No need to apologize. Just never seen you get upset before. Anyway, I came back to tell you the jury has already come to a decision. We need to be back in the courtroom in fifteen minutes."

It was Greg's turn to be surprised. "That quick? Is that good or bad?" Greg's nerves were kicking back in again.

"Well, what it means is that they definitely all agreed with one side, just what that side is we will find out soon enough."

Greg took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay, give me a couple minutes here and I will meet you in the courtroom." His lawyer nodded, patting him on the back.

"Okay Greg." Mr. Hill headed off leaving Greg sitting alone again.

Greg looked around, making sure Aaron James was nowhere in sight. He looked back down at his cell phone, which he never finished completing his text message to Nick. He erased what he had previously typed, then decided to not send anything at all. He turned his phone off again for court and got up, ready to head to the courtroom where life would either deal him a break or a blow.

The jury was brought back into the courtroom, none of them making eye contact with Greg or the James' family. They took their seats and kept their eyes on the Judge, waiting for their instruction.

Greg watched intensely as the Foreman of the jury stood up, ready to give the verdict up. The Foreman gave the verdict to the bailiff to give to the judge to read. The judge looked over the paperwork and then proceeded to read the verdict.

"The Jury has found Greg Sanders, in the wrongful death of Demetrius James, not guilty." Greg felt a wave of relief wash over him but it lasted only a couple seconds. Aaron James and his mother both stood up and started ranting and raving about the outcome.

"He killed my brother and he gets away with it? How could you let him do that? We deserve something for our pain." Aaron James was raving at the jury and the judge. Mrs. James screamed out, "He ran my son down with no thought. Have you no hearts?"

Greg felt the pressure of what was going on around him and just wanted to run out of the courtroom, but no one could tell how he felt. He kept his expression straight, his eyes on the judge, waiting for him to do something.

"Order, order in this court!" He pounded his gavel. "I will not have an outburst like this. I am sorry to the James' family, but the jury has made its' decision and it is final. Please sit down."

Mrs. James pulled her son back down to his seat as she took hers also. Judge Cartwright dismissed the jury and waited until they were gone before dismissing the case all together.

The James' continued to brood while the Judge gave his final comments. Greg could tell without even looking to the side that the family was all staring at him. He waited for the judge to leave the courtroom before turning to his attorney and thanking him.

"Mr. Hill, thanks for getting me through this. I really thought it was going to go against me."

"Nonsense, Greg. You defended yourself in the line of duty and anyone could clearly see that. It is not like you did not suffer any. You were still beaten up and ended up in the hospital yourself. The jury saw that and that is why you won. Just be glad it is over." Greg smiled at him, but suddenly felt like it was never really going to be over as he glanced over at the James' family departing the courtroom. Aaron James had turned around just as Greg looked in their direction. Aaron James gave him a look that gave Greg a chill down his spine.

Greg turned his attention back to his lawyer to avoid any further eye contact with them.

"You ready to go and celebrate," his lawyer asked him. Greg forced a smile for him. "Yeah I plan on doing that, but first going to change out of his suit, then stop by the lab to tell everyone the good news."

"Well congratulations, Greg. You deserve this win. You're a good kid, I can tell. Take care." They shook hands and his lawyer left him alone in the courtroom. Greg wanted to wait a little while, hoping the press might disappear before he came out. He really did not want to talk to them about it, even though he came out fine in the deal. He knew that right now the James' were probably trashing him and saying he was getting away with murder.

Instead he decided to send a text message to Eve, as he promised her the night before he would let her know the minute he could. He would have called Nick or the other CSI's but figured it might still be too early for them. They might still be sleeping before the shift for the night. He would just call Nick later on and then stop by as he promised.

He finally got up and walked out into the courthouse lobby area. There were still a few lingering people in the lobby but no one paid any attention to him. He looked out and saw most of the press was still busy interviewing others outside. He decided to take the back way out after all and avoid them altogether. He was happy he won, but still not up to talking about it to complete strangers in front of TV cameras. Plus he did not want any confrontation with Aaron James, who he could still see out front, almost like he was waiting for him. Greg felt that chill run down his spine again as he made his way out the back door to his car to head home. Maybe it was not over as he had hoped it would be today.

* * *

Is he right, is it not really over yet? to be continued... 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N-Well if anyone is reading this, I hope you are enjoying it. It will pick up eventually after the next chapter. I promise.

* * *

Greg had been home for a little while and had already taken a shower and changed clothes when his phone rang.

"Hey Greg, so I heard the good news man. Congratulations," Nick's voice coming through the phone with excitement.

Greg ran a hand through his still damp hair, slightly confused. "Thanks but how did you find out already? I was just about to call you."

"I had gotten up earlier due to a few errands I needed to run today and I caught it on the news."

Greg shook his head. Of course the press would have had it all over the place already. "Sorry I didn't call earlier, I did not want to wake you."

"Nah, it's okay. I'm just glad you got through it today. I noticed you avoided the press, good idea because the James family was hogging it all up. They were not happy at all."

Greg wanted to say, who can blame them, but thought better not to voice that thought. "Yeah well it's done, so now my life can go on again." Greg has been trying to sound happy about it, but he realized he was not coming across that way and Nick picked up on it.

"Did something else happen that you are not telling me? You do not sound overly thrilled about winning the case."

"No, I am. I guess it just drained me today. I'll be sure to drink some coffee before I stop by tonight so I will seem happier about it," he chucked.

"Okay that sounds better. We do not want to see anymore moping around from you."

Greg took offence. "Hey now! I do not mope." Nick was laughing on the other end.

"Okay, so you don't. Get some coffee in you and see you in a couple hours then." Nick was still laughing when he hung up the phone.

Greg noticed he had a voice mail message that must have come through when he was showering. He played back the message. It was Eve who had called him back. She simply gave him congratulations and mentioned if he felt like celebrating to give her a call later on. He would consider it later on if his CSI buddies were busy.

It was about 8pm when he arrived at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He went straight toward the break room, knowing that was usually where everyone hung out until assignments were given. He grabbed another cup of coffee (he had already had two at home) from a pot that was already brewed. It was not his Blue Hawaiian, but he already had that from home, so one cup of this would not kill him.

"There he is." Greg turned around to the familiar voice. Warrick was smiling as he walked into the break room. Sara followed behind him. "Way to go, Greg." Sara came and gave him a hug.

"Thanks you two. It feels good to have it over." Greg was genuinely smiling. He felt better just being around them and knowing he no longer had to worry about his case. It was finally starting to sink in.

"Good to see you drinking that coffee," Nick winked at him as he came into the break room. Greg grinned back devilishly. "As per doctor's orders. On 3rd cup."

They sat around the table while he briefly told them about his last two days. He left out the parts of Aaron James giving him trouble and warning glares. He elaborated in his unique way, the actual trial portions to make it sound more exciting.

Catherine and Grissom walked in together. "Good job, Greg. You did well, like I knew you would." Greg always felt humbled when Grissom gave him a compliment.

Catherine came around and gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek. "See we told you everything would be fine."

Greg slightly blushed at all the attention given to him and the concern and care they all showed for him. "Yes, you all had more faith in the system than I had. I do greatly appreciate all the support you all have been giving me."

Ecklie walked in and saw them all not working. "Shouldn't all of you be working on some cases right now?"

They all tried their best to not look irritated and slowly got up. "Enjoy the rest of your night off, Greg," Nick said to him, grinning along the way. He figured Greg might be seeing his new girlfriend.

"Glad to see you won the case, Greg." Ecklie finally said to him as the others filed out. Greg gave him a polite smile and thanked him, then waited for him to leave again.

He sat around in the break room a few minutes thinking about Aaron James again. For some reason he could not shake the bad feeling me had about him.

"Don't you have a home somewhere you could be at?" Greg looked up and saw the snarky expression on David Hodges face.

"Why go home, where I can't get such pleasant comments from you," Greg smirked.

"Oh, I am sure I can arrange something on your voicemail to take home with you." Hodges just loved to bug the youngest CSI. Greg simply rolled his eyes.

"Did you come here for something, Hodges?"

"Well I believe this is the break room, you know, the place where people who are actually working today take their breaks?" Greg glared at him for a moment before deciding to leave.

"Bye Hodges," Greg said as he walked past him.

"Oh Greg, since you won't have to worry about that civil trial anymore, I expect better comebacks from you. You have been slacking." Greg turned back around, grinning. "You got it, Beaker!" Hodges raised his eyebrows, smirking. Greg left him at that.

Greg got into his car and made a phone call to Eve. It was sort of late already, so he was not sure if she would be up for anything but she had offered earlier so he would try. "Hey Eve, It's Greg. Are you still up for celebrating tonight?" He was hoping she still was. His three cups of coffee had him wide-awake now. Plus he felt he really needed a night out. This case and work consumed so much of his time lately, he just needed to go out and have a good time. And with Eve, he was sure to have an even better time.

"Greg, I was starting to think you did not want to celebrate your win? Of course I am willing to still go out. I am off tomorrow, so I can dance the night away."

"Dance? Is that what you want to do?"

"Sure, why not? We got a couple great clubs at my hotel and I get a discount." She laughed.

"Ah, a discount, that is always a plus." Greg was grinning to himself. "So how do we want to do this? Where are you now, at home? I could pick you up if you want me to?"

"Actually that would be great. My car has been acting up lately and I prefer having a reliable ride home late at night."

She told him where to pick her up and she said she would be ready in a half hour. He drove around the area in which she lived.

She lived in a fairly new apartment complex, complete with gated security entrance. She had given him the clearance code to get through the gate. He drove around and found her building. He got out of his car and went to the apartment door 204, on the second floor. He knocked and heard her yell out "Just a second."

He could not believe he was actually nervous. It's not like it was the first time he was seeing her. It was that he was just outside where she lived and this was basically their 3rd date already. It was moving faster than he ever imagined.

Suddenly the door was being unlocked and she opened the door for him. He tried very hard not to let his mouth drop open. She wore a spaghetti strapped, short red dress. Her hair was down and in soft curls. She was breathtaking. He could hardly believe his luck that day in first winning the case and now going out with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She noticed him staring at her, a smile curved on her lips. "I thought you might like this dress."

Greg tried to shake himself from staring so much. "Yeah, yes, good choice. Um, are you ready to go?"

Eve laughed. "You can put your tongue back in your mouth now and yes I am ready to go." She came out the door and locked it. She turned to him, staring into his big, brown eyes. "Are you ready, I think is the question?"

He laughed at her. "Yes, I am ready."


	10. Chapter 10

The club was packed by the time they arrived around 11pm. Eve led Greg by the hand, straight to the bar. A tall blonde, shorthaired female bartender was busy making drinks. "Hey Meg," Eve yelled out to the bartender. She turned and smiled at Eve.

"Hey Girl! Glad to see you here. It's been awhile. What are you drinking tonight, the usual?"

"Yeah give me that." Eve turned to Greg. "What do you want?" Greg ordered a rum and coke. Meg went ahead and made their drinks. She handed them off to Eve. "These first ones are on the house." Then she whispered to Eve. "Your new guy is really cute." Eve smiled. "I know." She turned her attention back to Greg.

They went and found a table to sit at and drink. On the way to the club, he had filled her in on his day in court. Once again he never brought up Aaron James into their conversation.

They did not talk much because the music was so hard to hear over. The club DJ played a good mix of pop, rock, and dance music. After finishing their drinks, they moved out onto the dance floor.

Eve was pretty impressed with Greg's dancing. Most of the guys she had dated were horrible dancers; Greg had some pretty good moves.

They went back to the bar and both ordered up another drink. Greg had no more after that since he was driving. Eve ended up having a couple more.

Greg loved watching her dance, but anytime a slow song came on he was ready to take a break. It was nearing 2 am and Eve was starting to tire out. She still had yet to get Greg to dance to a slower song with her.

She excused herself to use the restroom but on the way back she stopped by the DJ booth. Again DJ Tommy was someone she knew, so she asked him to play a song for her. He promised her he would play it after the next one he had lined up. She thanked him with a nice tip and made her way back to where she left Greg.

As she walked toward him, she noticed how he seemed to be surveying the whole crowd, almost studying them. She knew that was the investigator in him. Still she thought how handsome he was, standing there in his black jeans and snug fitting blue shirt.

She smiled at him when his eyes found her making her way through the crowd.

"Are you ready to go," he asked her. She grabbed his hand. "No, just a couple more songs, okay? Then we can go."

Greg groaned slightly and she just squinted her eyes at him, while pulling him back onto the dance floor. They had just finished dancing to an upbeat song, when the song she had requested came on. Greg was about to try to get out of this one again but Eve was not having it.

"Oh no you don't. This is one of my favorite songs. You are dancing with me to this one, then we can leave." Greg sighed but stayed out this time.

_This time all I want is you_

_There is no one else_

_Who can take your place_

_This time you burned me with your eyes_

_You see past all the lies_

_You take it all away_

As the song played, Eve rested her head against Greg's shoulder, while locking her arms around his neck. He put his arms around her tighter. He had to admit she felt good against him.

_I've seen it all and it's never enough_

_It keeps leaving me needing you_

_Take me away_

_Take me away_

_I've got nothing left to say_

_Just take me away_

"So who sings this anyway," he asked her as they danced. "It's Lifehouse. One of my favorite bands. The song is _Take me Away_. I know not hard rock, but I love their music and especially the lyrics to their songs."

I've got nothing left to say 

_Just take me away_

_Don't give up on me yet_

_Don't forget who I am_

_I know I'm not there yet_

_But don't let me stay here alone_

_This time all I want is you_

_There is no one else_

_Who can take your place_

As they danced, they stared into each other's eyes. Greg could not wait any longer. He wanted to taste her lips and mouth. He leaned in and kissed her. She held onto the kiss, savoring every second of it until the song ended.

They broke the kiss and just stared at each other for a few seconds before some other couple bumped into them.

Both being broken out of their trance, they grinned. "Well I guess we can go now." Greg only nodded to her and then led her out to his car.

The drive back to her place was oddly quiet at first until he broke the silence. "That song was pretty good. It wasn't too slow for my tastes."

"Well that is good to hear because if you are going to be hanging around me, I listen to them a lot."

"Oh is that so? Well just as long as you can deal with my Marilyn Manson music."

She looked at him, surprised. "You like him?"

"Yeah why? You don't?" She smiled. "I do not love them but I do like the music. I have no problem with him."

"So I guess we are safe then," he grinned. "I guess so."

He parked his car in front of her apartment. She looked at him coolly. "Do you want to come inside for awhile?" Greg gave her serious consideration. "Are you sure?"

She smiled at him. "Yes, I would not have asked you." He shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."

They went upstairs and she opened the door.

He studied her place as they entered. It was a decent size apartment, for a one bedroom. She had one wall painted a pleasant green where the beige micro suede sofa rested. The rest of the walls where white. The remaining furnishings looked like they came straight out of a furniture showroom. By the looks of her place, she must have brought home a pretty decent paycheck, probably more than he made now, which would be pretty normal for the position at the major hotel she worked at.

"Nice place you got here."

"Thanks. I like it. It's comfy. Say, you want something to drink like water?"

"Yeah that would be great. I can help you if you want?" She waved him off.

"No, I got it. Just take a seat." He shrugged and sat down on the sofa. He noticed a few photos of what must have been her family on a shelving unit she had. They looked like a very close family.

She came over with two bottles of water. She sat down next to him.

"So, uh, what made you want to become a CSI?"

He opened his bottle of water and took a swig. "Well, really I was just a lab tech to start off. I did all the DNA stuff. I've loved science since I was a kid. I got the job here in Las Vegas, which was great because it is one of the largest labs in the country. It put me to the test and I loved it. At first, but then hearing about actual cases and actually getting the chance a couple of times to go out in the field and see them catch the bad guys, I got the bug. I grew restless being in the lab all day. So I talked to Grissom, my boss, and well he gave me a chance and now here I am, a CSI."

"It had to be safer in the lab, though." She kicked off her shoes and got more comfortable on the sofa.

"Well to a point, but there was an explosion one day in the lab and I got thrown through a window and suffered some minor burns."

She was shocked and yet intrigued. "Really? Well you obviously made it through that okay. But that had to be like a fluke kind of thing. I mean out in the field it is more serious." He looked at her, wondering where she was going with this.

"Yeah I know things can be serious. Been there, done that." She closed her eyes, realizing how stupid she could be.

"I'm sorry. Of course you have. It's the alcohol affecting my thinking," she tried to use the pitiful excuse.

He smiled at her. "It's okay. I'm just wondering why you brought all this up."She looked into those intense brown eyes of his. "It's just that I really, really like you and a part of me fears that…that…" He knew now where she was going with it.

"You fear that something might happen to me like what happened to your mother?"

She wrapped her arms around her, looking at him with concern. "That's what I thought. But who's to say I even want to go out with you again?"

He almost burst out laughing seeing her expression register what he just said. He let his grin escape. "Just kidding with you. I love spending time with you. You are beautiful, energetic, smart, funny, and a great kisser."

A smirk curved on her lips. "Oh really? I think I need more to judge your kissing skills on." He raised his eyebrows.

"Well I think I can give you more to judge me on."

* * *

Things will pick up after this...more CSI type stuff. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

* * *

Greg could not believe how the last 24 hours had turned out. As he drove into work he reflected on the previous day. He had won the civil case, which was a big relief, but it was his night with Eve that had really turned out well.

When he had woken up earlier that day in bed next to Eve, he had realized he was falling in love. Somehow things had gotten serious and they ended up sleeping together. He still could picture how beautiful she was lying next to him in bed.

He tried to think back to when he had felt this way about a woman before so soon, but could not recall it. The greatest thing about it was he knew she cared about him too. Overall it looked like his life was getting back on track again.

He walked into the Las Vegas Crime Lab, into the locker room where he saw Nick. "Hey Nick! Any hot cases going on right now?"

"Yeah, got a 419 just called in. Grissom tagged Warrick and me on it. Catherine is already on her way there. Warrick just called and is stuck in traffic, so I am waiting on him to get here."

"Cool, I guess I'll just go to Grissom and see what he wants me on." Nick noticed that Greg seemed extremely energized and more back to his normal self.

Greg was just about to leave the locker room when Nick spoke up again. "So you look extremely happy. What happened last night?"

Greg spun around with a big grin on his face. "Am I that obvious, huh?" Nick chuckled. "You have not stopped smiling since you came in here."

Greg's eyes were wide with excitement. "Nick, this girl is amazing. I seriously think I am falling in love with her."

Nick smiled at his friend, slightly envious. "That's great, G. At least someone around here is able to find a someone."

"I'm sure you'll be next, Nick. You always got ladies coming after you." Greg tried to encourage his friend. "It's making the time to be with someone that is tough. I probably won't be able to see Eve for a few days again. With her working days and me on nights it really is going to suck. I just got lucky having these past couple of evenings off."

"Yeah, we do work some crazy hours here. But I am happy for you, man. Hope it all works out."

"Thanks, I hope so too." Warrick walked in signaling to Nick as Greg finished speaking.

"Hey sorry about being late. Damn strip traffic was a nightmare. Hey Greg," he said acknowledging him with a nod.

"Hey 'Rick. Well, I got to go check in with Grissom. Enjoy your 419 guys." He grinned and was gone down the hall.

Warrick looked questioningly at Nick. "What's up with him? He seemed more like DNA boy again." Nick laughed. "He thinks he is falling in love with his new girl."

"He has a new girlfriend? Where have I been?" Nick smiled at Warrick. "He only met her a few days ago."

"A few days ago and he already thinks he's in love? Well I guess we are talking about Greg here." Warrick smirked. Nick laughed with him. "Yep, we are."

Greg walked into Grissom going down the hallway. "Greg, just the person I was looking for. We have another crime scene in Henderson. A young male found beaten to death in his backyard. Sara will meet us there." Greg nodded his head and followed Grissom out.

As usual, the ride out to the crime scene was quiet with Grissom. Greg was glad once they got to the scene to see Sara and Brass there. Greg walked over by Sara and David, who were checking the body.

As he got a closer look at the young man's beaten face, he felt a slight tremor run through his body recalling his own beating that he was lucky enough to survive.

Sara noticed that Greg seemed to be in some kind of trance staring at the victim. "Greg, are you okay," she asked with concern in her brown eyes.

Greg shook himself out of it. "Yeah, yeah. I am fine." He looked sheepishly at Sara.

Grissom came around and asked David what the TOD was. He told them he had been dead about 3 hours.

"Sara, get some casts made of the shoe prints out here. Greg, you go inside the house and collect evidence from his bedroom. I'm going to be with Brass questioning the victim's roommate."

Greg entered the victim's bedroom. He had posters on the walls of scantily clad women leaning against high performance cars. There was a twin-sized bed, a dresser and a desk with a computer and several books on it. Greg noticed the computer's wallpaper showed a shot of the UNLV campus. Looking around and photographing the things he had, Greg came to the conclusion that the victim was an UNLV student.

He came across his student ID while going through the items on his desk. "Mark Thomas. Student since 2004. So he was in his 3rd year," Greg surmised.

He pulled back the bed sheets and did the usual search with the ALS. He had found some semen stains, which would not have been unusual for a college guy. He found no trace of blood anywhere in the bedroom, so the beating definitely did not start in his room.

Grissom came into the room. "You got anything?"

"So far he seems like your average college junior. Found semen stains on the bed sheets, but no blood anywhere. What did his roommate have to say?"

"He says he came home around midnight from work and found the light on in the backyard. So he went out to see why it was on and saw Mark Thomas as we found him. But for now, I need you to come and help question some of the neighbors. We know with the fence around the backyard, most likely no one saw anything, but they may have heard something."

"Sure, just point me in the right direction." Greg followed Grissom out of the house to question the neighbors.

About another couple hours passed before they headed back to the lab to start processing the evidence they collected.

Before he knew it, the shift was over and the only things they had to go on were the DNA results waiting to come back from fingernail scrapings they had found under Mark Thomas' nails. If they got a hit on CODIS then they had their killer, most likely.

On his drive home, Greg thought about how he had scratched one of his attackers but there was no hit on CODIS. Luckily they had a lot of other leads, which led them to the gang who beat him up along with the three other victims.

A few days had passed. The Mark Thomas case had been closed when DNA matched a Tucker Reynolds. It turned out Mark had been sleeping with Tucker's girlfriend and on that particular night, a drunk Tucker Reynolds came over to confront Mark and ended up beating him to death.

Tucker was a big, burly guy who had been arrested for battery and assault once before. His knuckles were still bruised from the beating of Mark Thomas.

Greg had not been able to see Eve since he had been so busy with work. They still managed to talk on the phone a few times. She told him she was trying to see if she could change to the evening shift, that way they might have more time to spend together. She said she liked the evening shifts actually, so the move would not bother her.

When Greg's day off came again, Eve still had to work during the day, but her evening would be free. They decided on dinner and a movie again. Greg once again offered to pick her up at her place.

It was close to midnight when they were walking out to his car in the theater parking lot. Eve was busy talking about the movie when Greg caught out of the corner of his eye Aaron James, staring at them. He was standing against a light post just outside the movie theater, making sure Greg spotted him.

Greg wanted to stop and go over to him and ask him what his problem was, but knew that was asking for a ton of trouble.

Eve noticed Greg looking at something. "Greg, what's wrong?" Greg quickly turned his attention back to Eve, not wanting her to notice Aaron James.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just thought I saw an old friend but I was wrong." He hated lying but he had to. He did not want to worry her. When he turned back around quickly to see if he was still there, but he was gone. Greg had a real uneasy feeling going through him.

"Greg!" Eve shouted. He was so consumed in his thoughts he had not heard Eve tell him they were at his car. "I'm sorry," he said still looking around.

"Is something else going on you are not telling me?" Her expression showed concern. He tried to force himself to look relaxed.

"Yeah, I am fine. The guy just looked so much like him, but he's gone now anyway. Let's just head home."

Eve was still slightly suspicious about his reaction but she let it drop. They went back to her place and spent the night together again.


	12. Chapter 12

A few weeks had passed; Eve had managed to swing onto the evening shift at her job. Often now after work Greg would go straight to her place. She was often still asleep in bed when he came in with his key she gave him.

Even though their schedules still did not completely coincide, they were able to see more of each other than they had been. Greg and Eve both would trade days off with co-workers once in awhile so they could have whole days off together.

By now all of Greg's co-workers knew he had a steady girlfriend, even though no one had met her.

One day Greg had worked overtime and was not getting out until around 1 pm. He had called Eve, who he knew would already be awake and probably doing errands and asked her to meet him for a late lunch. He told her was going to have his co-worker, Nick Stokes with him.

Nick had been asking to meet her, so Greg finally decided to give in and scheduled this.

Eve was actually nervous about meeting one of Greg's co-workers. She had seen them at the crime scene where she first met Greg, but did not talk to any of them. But Greg talked about his work and co-workers a lot, especially Nick and Sara. He had confessed to her that he use to have a thing for Sara but was over her now. She loved how honest he was with her about things.

She managed to beat Greg and Nick to the diner since she had been in the vicinity running some errands. She sat in a booth, having already picked out what she wanted to eat on the menu, waiting for them to arrive.

She first saw Greg's silver Volkswagen pull up. He got out of the car and waited until a black SUV pulled up next to his car. The handsome, dark-haired man she remembered from the crime scene came out of the SUV and walked with Greg to the diner entrance.

Greg gave her his killer smile as he spotted her sitting in the booth. She stood up when they approached. Greg gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and then introduced her to Nick.

Nick smiled genuinely at Eve. "So glad to finally meet the woman that seems to have stolen Greg's heart." Eve felt herself redden.

"Nice to meet you too. Greg talks about his co-workers all of the time."

"Well we all pretty much feel like family since we've worked together for so long and through some tough moments."

"Yes, I can see that." She smiled at Greg.

They all sat and chatted while eating their meals. Eve liked the good-natured Texan. She could see why Greg and him got along so well.

Nick had to leave to get to an appointment. Greg and Eve remained awhile longer sitting and talking.

Eve looked at her watch. "Don't you think you should go home and get some sleep before you start your shift tonight? You look tired." Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess so. I hate that we hardly get to see each other some weeks."

She held his hand across the table. "Yeah, I know it does suck, but we are making the best of it."

He gazed into her beautiful, dark green eyes, wishing he did not feel so tired so he could spend more time with her, but he knew he had to try to go home and get some sleep.

"I suppose I should go home now and attempt a few winks and you can go finish whatever it was you needed to do," he said sluggishly.

"Yes, I don't want to miss my date with John. He gets very upset when I am late," she grinned.

He eyed her suspiciously. "John?" She started laughing at his expression.

"My boss, John Rider. He called a meeting for today before my shift begins and asked me to pick up some stuff for a meeting."

"Ah okay. Teaser!" He smirked at her as he opened the door to exit the diner.

They stood by her car and kissed before she waved and said goodbye to him. He watched as she drove away, and then got into his own car.

He started up his car and was looking out of his front windshield, ready to pull out when he saw him. Aaron James sat in his car, a black Acura, across the way from where Greg was parked.

This time Greg was ticked off. Greg turned off his car and was just getting out to go over and confront Aaron when he sped out of the parking lot. Greg made note of his license plate as he drove off.

Greg got back in his car and just sat there trying to figure out what Aaron's game was. Was he trying to mess with his mind or was he really out for him? Greg wondered how long Aaron had been watching him. It irritated him that his was the second time he saw him when he was out with Eve.

He wanted to go back to work now to just run the license plate number just because he was curious, but knew if he got busted doing it he could get into trouble. He sighed heavily and decided to just go home and try to get some sleep.

He dragged into his shift later on, having hardly slept due to his mind running over what was up with Aaron James. He was not sure if he should mention it to anybody or not. He did not want to sound paranoid, but what if Aaron had something up his sleeves in mind for Greg for revenge? Greg could not shake that feeling.

Greg was in the break room getting some much-needed coffee when Sara and Nick came in. "Hey Greg. I was just telling Sara here I met Eve. I was really impressed with her. You took look great together."

Greg turned around to face them and Nick saw how tired he looked. "Gee, all play and no sleep makes Greg a tired boy," Nick laughed, but Greg did not. He looked serious.

"Can I tell you guys something that you will just keep between us," he asked as he took a seat at the table.

"Girlfriend problems? You two looked happy?" Nick asked with some concern seeing how Greg was now.

"No, no…we are fine. It is something else."

Sara could always tell when something was really bothering Greg. "What is wrong? Did something happen?"

Greg looked around to make sure no one else was listening. "Okay, I never told you guys this but on my last day of the civil trial, Aaron James came up to me while I was in the cafeteria at the courthouse. He sort of threatened me in an indirect way. And then after I won, I swear, he was shooting daggers at me with his eyes. I did not make too much of that. But since then I have twice spotted him watching me, once I was leaving the movies with Eve and he was watching me from a distance and then just after meeting with you today, Nick, at the diner. As I was about to leave, Eve had already left, I saw him in his car across the way from mine staring at me. I decided to try to make an approach to him and the second he saw me get out of my car and walk toward him he took off. Tell me what you guys think? Is he just trying to make me crazy or is he maybe thinking about doing something?"

Sara and Nick looked at each other, both contemplating on what Greg just told them. Sara was the first to speak. "Greg, I think he is just trying to mess with you, make you all nervous about him like you are now. You can't let him get to you. The jury made their decision twice about you not being guilty of anything. He just has to deal with it."

Nick shook his head in agreement with Sara. "Yeah man. I think he is just messing around with your head, maybe hoping you make some stupid move on him then he can file a complaint against you. But I will say if you see him again soon or something, you might want to ask your lawyer about it, if you can file some sort of restraining order against him."

Greg rubbed his hand over his chin, thinking about what they had told him. They were probably right. Aaron James was trying to mess with his head and it was starting to work.

"Okay, thanks you two. I guess you are right. He is getting to me already just when I thought I was done with all that. But if I do see him again, I have to do something, because it could be considered stalking, almost."

Nick nodded his head. "Yeah and you do not want a crazy stalker after you, like I had. So just be cautious but not paranoid, I would say. We'll keep our eyes open too, if we happen to spot him anywhere nearby."

Sara agreed with Nick. "Yeah, let us know if you do see him again too."

Greg nodded. "I will. I do feel better telling you both about it."

"Did you tell Eve about it," Sara asked. Greg looked down and answered. "No, I did not. I just did not want to worry her at all. I figured it would be better than make her paranoid like me."

"Probably a good idea for now." Greg was glad she agreed.

"Thanks again, I appreciate you listening to me. I feel a better now about it. Now if only this coffee gets me through this shift tonight." He grinned at them. He had to put aside his thoughts of Aaron James and focus his mind on his job again. It was going to be a long night.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N-sorry it has taken so long. has been giving me major issues in uploading. Someone gave me a tip on how to work around it. Thanks PurpleArmadillo

**Chapter 13 **

* * *

It was Wednesday and it had been six days since Greg last saw Aaron James. He had managed to stay busy enough with work and then with Eve that he hardly thought about him.

Eve and him had decided to move in together since he spent so much time over at her place. Her place was the wiser choice since it was bigger and located centrally for both of them. He had slowly been packing his things when he had a chance and moving them over to her place. He knew moving in with her was a huge step for him, but he was ready to do it.

The shift started off slow. Warrick and Catherine were out on a breaking and entering out in North Las Vegas. Sara had the evening off. Greg, Nick and Grissom were in the lab working on some unsolved cases.

Greg had just finished talking with Mandy about some fingerprints that came up with no match when Grissom found him.

"Greg, you are with me. We got a hit and run off the Strip, off Flamingo Rd. Nick is headed out already to the scene with Brass. We will meet them there."

"Any details on it yet?"

"No, not yet. Grab your stuff and meet me in the parking garage."

Grissom drove to the scene while Greg sat as passenger. Grissom's cell phone rang.

"Gil, it's Brass. Is Greg with you?"

"Yes, why?"

"Gil, we have an ID on the hit and run victim. It is Eve Dunn, Greg's girlfriend." Grissom glanced over at Greg who was looking out the window at the bright lights of the Strip.

Grissom took in a breath. "Are you sure?"

Brass continued in a serious tone. "Yes. She was leaving work apparently. It happened in the parking garage. She has been taken to Dessert Palms in critical condition. It does not look good."

Greg now noticing Grissom's slightly grave expression watched him as he spoke on the phone. "Okay, call Sara in to help Nick out. She'll understand. I'll take care of things on this side. Thanks Jim."

Greg felt something uneasy come over him as he heard Grissom tell Brass to have Sara come in and he would take care of things on his side.

Grissom put away his cell phone and changed lanes on the highway to get into the turning lane.

"What's going on? Why are you changing direction? I thought we were heading to Flamingo Rd?"

Stopped at a traffic light, Grissom looked at Greg grimly. "Greg, the hit and run victim is Eve Dunn. She has been taken to Dessert Palms. We are going there now."

Greg felt like he had just been punched in the stomach. "Wha…what? Are they sure? She usually is home by now. It can't be her."

Grissom stared back at the traffic light, as it turned green. "Brass said he is sure. It happened in the parking garage at the Rio."

Greg's mouth was agape in shock as he continued to stare at Grissom in disbelief. He felt his heart racing. "Did he," he hardly wanted to know but had to. "Did he say in what kind of condition she was in?"

Grissom continued with his eyes on the road to the hospital. "He said she was in critical condition." He glanced over at his young CSI, who was now staring straight ahead at nothing in particular, trying to remain clam, but Grissom could tell he was shaken by the news.

"We'll be there in five minutes and you can find out for yourself on her condition." Greg did not say anything more. He remained painfully silent, staring into space. Grissom was never that good in situations like this. He thought for a moment what it might be like if he found out similar news about Sara, who he had been seeing secretly.

"You said she is a strong, energetic woman. I am sure she is and will pull through this."

Greg barely heard what he said. "Yeah," he mumbled, but not really realizing he said it. His mind was racing. He had seen her earlier that day before she went into work. He remembered her wearing one of his favorite suits that she would wear. It was a sharp looking forest green skirt and jacket set. It really showed off her legs and the green made her own green eyes pop. He remembered kissing her goodbye as she walked out the door, her lips lingering over his for a few seconds longer than normal. She had been in a particularly spunky mood that morning after their active night. They had made plans to try to schedule a little getaway for couple days. They were both going to put in for a couple vacation days and go out to Lake Mead to spend sometime away together. She had been so excited about it.

He could not believe that suddenly she was fighting for her life. He would not believe it until he saw her for himself. It had to be a mistake. She did occasionally leave work later than other nights, sometimes being invited out by her friends or co-workers, but she would usually give him a call or leave a message. But then he remembered she usually did it once she got home; he had not heard from her yet that night.

He took a shuddering breath as they pulled into the emergency room parking area. Grissom did not bother slowing him down when he ran out of the Denali and through the doors of the ER. Grissom joined up with him at the ER check-in desk.

"I'm here for Eve Dunn. She was brought in as a hit and run victim." Grissom could hear the nerves in Greg's usually calm voice as he asked the black haired female nurse at the desk.

The nurse saw his LVPD CSI vest and Grissom in his next to him and freely gave the information to them after looking it up on her chart. "She is in surgery right now, up on the 3rd Floor."

Greg looked to Grissom, who just nodded his head for his youngest CSI to go on ahead. "I'll catch up with you, after I call Brass again." Greg's brown eyes betrayed his worry as he thanked Grissom and headed to the elevators.

Greg could hardly wait for the elevator doors to open up. He went up to the nurses station there and asked again about Eve. This time an older woman, with graying short hair and kind blue eyes was behind the desk.

"The hit and run victim. Yes, she is still in surgery at the moment. You can take a seat in the waiting room and I will have the doctor's see you when they are done. And you are with the Las Vegas Crime Lab?" The nurse could see that this was more than just a normal follow up with the victim by the look in the CSI's eyes.

"Yes, Greg Sanders, but she is also my girlfriend. Do you know how bad she is? I have not really heard any details."

"I know she came in with numerous internal injuries and was taken straight into surgery. She was in critical condition. The doctors will do everything possible to take care of her, Mr. Sanders." The nurse tried to give the worried young man a comforting smile.

Greg nodded to her and slowly walked over to the waiting room but could not take a seat. He was too nervous to sit, so he paced. There were only a couple other people in the waiting room at that hour of the night. He noticed a younger couple, probably around the same age as him and then a man about 70 something sitting and waiting, looking just as impatient and worried as he felt.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall. It read 3:23 am. He continued his pacing until he saw Grissom step out of the elevator. He came up to Grissom.

"She's still in surgery. The nurse is not sure how long it will be yet. Can they tell how this happened?" he asked Grissom.

"Brass said there was one witness who was not close by but saw from a distance what happened. Brass said the witness saw her walking across the garage to her car when suddenly this car pulled out of another spot and came straight at her, hitting her. The car kept on going, never even slowing down." Grissom watched Greg as he tried to maintain his composure.

"So it seems like it was intentional then?"

"They are not sure yet. Why don't you just take a seat for now until you hear from the doctor? I have to check in with the others. I'll be right back." Greg nodded and watched as Grissom headed to the elevator again to go downstairs to use his cell phone.

Greg finally took a seat and just stared down at his hands, wracking his brain at how this could have happened to someone like Eve.

The nurse who he had spoken to earlier came up to him with a small plastic bag. "This was just given to me. These are the items that were found on her when she was brought in."

Greg thanked the nurse and then just stared down at the contents of the bag. His hand shook as he held the bag that contained an emerald and diamond ring that she had said her parents gave to her that she always wore on her right hand and the small, gold heart necklace that he had given her a couple weeks ago. He closed his eyes and prayed that she would wear these again.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was 6:54 am and Greg's nerves were pretty much shot. It had been over three hours since she had been in surgery.

Grissom had to excuse himself to get back to the lab, but Greg understood. They would not normally wait at the hospital for a victim to come out of surgery. They would come once the victim was able to communicate or collect their belongings.

Greg had kept to himself, sitting in a chair away from others. He was trying to think about what could have happened. He wanted to know what evidence Nick and Sara had found. He just wanted answers to anything at this point.

His wish was about to be granted as he saw a doctor in green scrubs coming towards him.

"Mr. Sanders, I am Dr. Myers. I am told you are a CSI and Miss Dunn's boyfriend?" Greg nodded his head. "Yes, I am."

"Well then, Miss Dunn has been taken to ICU now. She is still in critical condition. She suffered from several bruised and broken ribs, one of which caused a lung to collapse. She had some other internal bleeding which we were able to stop. More importantly, she had a cerebral contusion and skull fracture. We had to do surgery to relieve the bleeding on her brain. As you probably are aware the next 24 hours are critical to her recovery. Do you know if her family has been contacted?"

Greg could not believe he did not even think of contacting her brother. He was in Chicago and he needed to know.

"No, I am sorry. I did not think of it."

"Oh, no worry, I am sure one of our nurses probably took care of it. I will find out for you."

"When can I see her," Greg asked Dr. Myers.

"Give us about another half hour to get her settled into ICU, then you can go in and see her."

"Okay, thank you." The doctor gave Greg a sympathetic smile before leaving to return to his work.

Greg got out his cell phone and text messaged Grissom letting him know that Eve was now out of surgery. Grissom had asked to be notified on her condition once Greg knew.

After about twenty minutes of pacing, a nurse came up to Greg and told him he could see Eve now. She told him where she was. Greg was familiar enough with the ICU area of the hospital to find his way there.

As he walked down the hall towards the room, his stomach clenched from nerves and worry. He was about to see the woman he loved in God knows what kind of condition.

He came to the entrance of her room and stepped in slowly. He felt his heart sink deeper as he saw her. She was hooked up to a ventilator to help her breath. Her head was all bandaged up from her surgery. She was so very pale.

He came up closer and took a chair next to her bed. He observed her closely. She did not have any visible bruising, but she just looked so ghostly pale to him.

The hum of the ventilator rattled his nerves a bit. He took her right hand into his. Her hand still was warm which made him feel better.

"Hey Eve. It's me, Greg. I've been here waiting for the doctors to let me be able to see you." Greg closed his eyes a moment, not knowing what to really say. What do you say to someone who more than likely cannot hear you?

"I just need you to get better soon," he said softly, squeezing her hand. He looked at her with the tube in her mouth to assist her breathing. He felt a shudder run down his spine.

"Whoever did this to you is not going to get away with it. I promise you that." He started to feel anger build up inside him, where the fear had been. The sneering face of Aaron James popped into his mind and then it struck him. Aaron James had to be behind this. He had seen Greg with her a few times. He could have been following her around too, but she would not have noticed him.

Just as he was going over all of this in his head, Sara stepped into the room. "Greg, how's she doing?" Greg got up and motioned Sara to follow him outside the room.

"She's still in critical condition. Surgery was almost 4 hours." Sara looked compassionately at Greg. She laid a hand on his arm.

"I'm sure she will be fine. Look who she has to come back to," she grinned a little, trying to cheer Greg up some.

Greg did not take the bait. He wanted to know details. "So what did you find at the scene? Did anyone see the driver of the vehicle?"

"No one saw the driver's face. It was too dark at the time. We did find skid marks and Nick is back at the lab trying to match treads to find out the make of the car. The witness only knew it was a dark colored sedan of some sort." Greg thought about the car Aaron James had been driving when he saw him last. It could have very well been the same car.

"I think I know who might have done this," Greg said to her with an intense look in his dark eyes.

Sara looked surprised at him. "She had enemies?"

"No, I do. Aaron James. It's payback. It has to be."

Sara was skeptical and thought Greg was jumping to conclusions. "I don't know, Greg. Stalking you is one thing; trying to kill someone is another."

But Greg grew more certain about it as he thought about it. "No, listen to me. He has the motive. I killed someone he cared about, his brother, now he does or attempts to do the same to me, in the same method."

Sara was still unsure. "Do you think he would be that stupid? That obvious?"

"Well, his brother was not the brightest by not running away when he could have, then coming right at my vehicle when he knew I was with the police department. I mean did he honestly think I would just let him throw the rock through my windshield?" Greg saw Sara's troubled expression. He rubbed his hand over his face. He realized he was letting his emotions control him and had to refocus.

"Sorry, I know I sound a bit obsessed about this, but Aaron might be thinking he is covering his tracks well enough. I mean I doubt he is stupid enough to use his own vehicle, even though I know when I saw him last he was driving a black Acura. But look into him, please, for me. I just have a strong gut feeling on this."

Sara thought about what Greg said and even though she still had her doubts, she had to follow through on any lead. "Fine, I will keep him in mind as we process the evidence, but listen you have to stay out of his. You do not need to get in trouble with the Under-sheriff if he found out about you secretly trying to work a case you are personally attached to."

Greg rolled his eyes. "I know. Grissom already told me before he left to head back to the lab a few hours ago. I am officially not on this case, but it does not mean I cannot know about it or I cannot inform you of things!"

Sara was a bit taken back at how defensive Greg was being but then again he was under a lot of stress with the situation. She could see it in his eyes that even though he looked like he was dealing with everything okay, his eyes told another story.

Sara was concerned for him. It was amazing how much he had matured since she first met him as the wacky DNA lab tech with crazy hair and always in a good mood. But ever since his incident with Demetrius James, he had become a lot more serious about things in general. Lately, though his mood had improved a lot, which she knew Eve had been a major factor in that. She hated to think of how Greg would be if Eve did not recover.

"Greg, perhaps you should take a couple vacation or sick days off while Eve recovers."

Greg turned his head and looked through the window into Eve's room. He watched for a few seconds as her chest rose and fell with the help of the ventilator. He sighed and looked at Sara.

"I'm not sure what I can do for her right now. I was in there and felt helpless." Sara felt for him.

"Just be there for her, for when she wakes up. And let her know that you love her."

"I do, you know. I really do love her. I would have never thought I would have been a one woman guy." His face and tone were somber. Sara squeezed his arm showing support.

He gave her a small smile. "Just get whoever it maybe who did this to her."

Sara smiled at him. "Look who you are talking to! You know we will." She had to get back to the lab to help Nick process the evidence.

"Oh wait. I have her stuff too." Greg walked back into Eve's room and grabbed a sealed bag, then pulled out the other bag out of his vest pocket that held her jewelry.

"Here, you'll need these too to process." He handed the bags over to her.

"Ah yes, I came for those too and almost forgot. Thanks. Let Grissom know what you decide about taking time off. He was the one who suggested I tell you."

Greg nodded his head. "Okay. Keep me updated." Sara nodded and gave him a hug before she left.

Greg really appreciated her coming and taking the time to talk some. He was glad her and Nick were on the case, along with Grissom. They would not let him or Eve down.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N-Been busy with work and going out of town, but I got a new chapter and another in the works.

* * *

Chapter 15

Nick sat in front of the computer screen, waiting for it to run through all the different types of tire treads until it found a match. Sara came in, offering a fresh cup of Starbucks coffee she picked up on the way back to the lab.

"Ahh, thanks! You must have read my mind." Nick smiled at Sara as she handed off the cup to him.

"Got any matches yet," Sara asked as she peered over Nick's shoulder. "No, nothing yet. Grissom is working on the security camera videos from the parking garage. I think that is our best bet of identifying the vehicle for sure."

Nick looked at Sara more seriously now. "So how is our boy holding up?" Sara pulled up a chair next to Nick.

"He's holding up okay considering but where I am concerned is who he thinks is responsible for this."

"Who is that?"

"Aaron James. Greg seems to think he did this for payback." Nick looked thoughtfully about it for a moment and then looking at Sara, he said, "He could be right."

Sara was surprised to hear Nick agree with Greg's thoughts. Seeing Sara's expression he decided to explain. "Greg has already said he spotted Aaron several times when he was with Eve. What is to say that he has not been planning this for a while? I think we really owe Greg to look into him."

Sara frowned. "Okay but we should watch ourselves on it since I am sure if the Under-sheriff gets wind of this he might not be happy, seeing as the city has already dealt with much publicity with the Demetrius James case. You know him and bad PR."

"Yeah I do. We will make sure to follow where the evidence leads us, as always."

"Okay, I am going to check with Grissom to see how the video tapes are going?" Sara walked into the audio/visual lab and saw Catherine standing next to Archie and Grissom who was viewing the videos.

"Hey Catherine," Sara said as she stepped in the doorway.

"Hi Sara. I heard about Greg's girlfriend and what happened. I came in here to check with Grissom to see if he had any leads yet."

Grissom looked to Sara. "So how is Greg holding up?"

Sara leaned against the doorframe. "He looks stressed, but overall I think he is dealing with it pretty good."

"Did you bring up to him taking time off?"

"Yes, he said he would let you know soon."

"Good. Anyway it looks like out driver did not realize there was a camera in the parking garage."

Grissom pointed to a Caprice parked in a spot on level one of the garage. "It seems all the managers at the hotel have reserved spots on level one of the parking garage, so that means Eve Dunn parked in the same spot everyday. The suspect would have been able to realize this if they had been stalking her or knew her. This has been identified as her car at the beginning of her shift."

Archie fast-forwarded the tape a few hours. "See this car over here," he said as he pointed to the corner of the screen at a black car. "You can barely make out someone sitting in the car. As you fast forward in time, the person remains in the car."

Sara was now also watching over his shoulder. Archie sped up time until 2:05 am. He paused it to where on the right side of the screen they could barely see Eve walking to her car. As she crossed the parking garage to get to her car, the black sedan sitting in the corner came pulling out of it's spot, heading towards Eve. They could see Eve start to turn towards the direction of the car coming at her. Then the car plowed into her, flipping her onto the hood and then flying over the top of the car as it kept going. The car drove away as her body landed back onto the garage floor. A few seconds later a man could be seen running up to her body and checking on her, then getting out his cell phone. Archie paused the video at that point.

Sara, Grissom, and Catherine all looked at each other, their faces grim. No matter how many times they saw dead bodies or crimes being committed, it would still disturb them.

"She was purposely picked out. It was definitely not random," Sara said, now beginning to wonder more and more about Aaron James.

Grissom nodded. Then looked at Archie and asked, "Can you zoom in and try to get a look at the driver of the car?"

Archie nodded and rewound the tape. He paused on the part where the car was still in the parking spot. He started zooming in on the car, onto the driver. The focus was blurry. He tried clearing it up more, but all they could see of the driver was that whoever it was wore a ball cap and had their head bent down.

"Archie focus on the cap and the clothing," Grissom told him. Archie came in close on the cap and they identified it was a New York Yankees cap. The suspect wore a black jacket that was zipped up all the way to the neck.

"Well you can tell the suspect is a black person by the neck skin coloration, but can't he sure of what sex they are. Archie, go slow through where the car hits our victim."

Archie worked with the video while the others watched and processed what they saw. The driver had been smart enough to keep his/her face shielded from view from the video, plus it could not be cleared enough to make a visual. But they were able to make out the make of car. It was obviously premeditated by whoever did it.

Grissom and Sara headed back over to where Nick was staring at his computer screen. He looked up and saw them come in. "Hey, I got a possible make on the car."

Sara smiled at him. "We already ID-d the car. It is a Ford Taurus with no license plates on it."

He looked at Sara, slightly dejected. "Did you see who was driving the car?"

Sara knew where he was heading with this, but Grissom answered instead.

"The individual was mostly hiding his or her face, but we could tell they were black skinned."

Nick looked at Sara sternly, then looking to Grissom. "There is someone we might have to talk to about this eventually. It's Aaron James, brother of Demetrius James."

Grissom's brows perked up. "And you are coming to this conclusion because?"

Sara gave Nick a sour expression, but he went on to tell Grissom all about how Greg had seen Aaron on several occasions and how he had approached him during his trails.

Grissom remained quiet for a few seconds, processing everything he just found out. Finally, he expressed his thoughts on the new news.  
"I agree we have to keep him in mind while going through the evidence we come across, but we do not question him until we have something that can link him to this for sure."

Sara and Nick both agreed on that. Grissom then left them to continue working on what they had so far.

After their extended shift had ended and Grissom sent Nick and Sara home, Nick decided to pay Greg a visit at the Hospital.

He looked in the window first to the room and saw Eve all hooked up to machines. Then he noticed Greg sitting in a chair off to the side, looking exhaustedly at Eve.

Nick quietly stepped into the room, quietly knocking on the door. Greg turned around and saw his co-worker and friend come in. Nick came in and looked closer at Eve. He remembered the vibrant woman he met and seeing her now felt his heart go out to Greg.

"How's the case coming along," Greg asked while feigning a yawn. "Sorry man." Greg apologized.

"Hey no need. We are all beat, but I think you look worse for the wear." Greg frowned at him.

Nick nodded his head toward Eve. "So how is she doing?" Greg's eyes fell upon her sadly.

"No change. She's still in critical condition. Doctor was just in here checking on her." Greg looked wearily at Nick. "The case," he asked again.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. Well we know what kind of car the suspect drove. It was a Ford Taurus. The suspect was in the garage for a few hours just sitting in wait for Eve to leave, it looked like." Nick paused for a moment before revealing the next bit of information as he could already see Greg's expression changing.

"We also know that the suspect was black skinned. We do not know if they were male or female. They covered their face up really well."

Greg's eyes narrowed at Nick. "Did Sara tell you I think Aaron James did this? She had her doubts, but more than ever I am convinced of it."

"Yes, she did and I actually brought it up to Grissom and he says we will definitely keep him in mind while processing the evidence." Greg looked pleased. "Good… good. I am glad you're supporting my theory on this, Nick."

Nick smiled at Greg. "Hey I know how crazy stalkers can get. I do not take it lightly. This guy has already threatened you verbally, who says he won't take it further."

"Thanks, I know that's my feeling on it." Greg turned away to look sadly at Eve. "I swear if he did this to her to get to me, I will make sure he is put away for life."

Nick placed a hand on Greg's shoulder. "We all will make sure of it."


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks for the reviews!! I do appreciate them. **

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Chapter 16

A couple of days passed and still they had not gotten any more information to bring them closer to finding out who ran Eve down. Eve's condition had not improved any and it was eating away at Greg. He had taken a few days vacation so he could spend his time at the hospital with Eve.

Nick and Sara were good with coming to visit when they could and updating him on the case, but Greg was growing frustrated. He wanted to work on catching whoever did this to Eve. He felt helpless just sitting at her bedside not able to do anything.

He was rubbing his hand over his five o'clock shadowed face, sitting at Eve's bedside when Grissom walked in. "Greg," Grissom called out his name to get his attention. At seeing Grissom, Greg jumped to his feet.

"Hi! Uh, Grissom, do you have news for me?" Greg felt slightly flustered seeing Grissom there.

"No, but I did want to ask you some questions about Aaron James and your encounters with him. Firstly, how is Eve doing?"

Greg sighed before responding. "No change at all. What if she never…" Greg couldn't finish his thoughts out loud.

Grissom noticed his youngest CSI looked like he had not slept in days. He had dark circles under his eyes. "Greg, give her time. She's been seriously injured. It takes awhile for one's body to heal." Grissom watched as Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess I know that. So what did you want to ask me exactly," he said to Grissom wanting to steer the conversation away from Eve's condition.

"Let's go talk someplace else," Grissom told him.

Grissom studied Greg as they walked to the elevator. "When was the last time you got some sleep or ate something?"

Greg looked sheepishly at him, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. I've been sleeping off and on in the chair. I had a bag of chips a few hours ago." Grissom just frowned at Greg, not saying anything, knowing his expression would say enough. Greg hung his head as they waited for the elevator doors to open.

Grissom led them to the cafeteria to talk but also as a hint for him to eat. They took a table on the far side where no one else was so they could talk privately.

"So tell me in details about your encounters with Aaron James, starting with the first time at the Coroner's Inquest." Greg went into details about each instance, starting with Aaron James coming into the bathroom and calling him a 'killer' to his last time outside the diner parking lot in his car.

Grissom sat in thought for a few seconds before saying anything to Greg after he finished. Then he just looked at Greg.

"Greg, I think you should at least go home for a little bit and maybe get a few real hours of sleep and freshen up. You really look like hell and I am sure Eve wouldn't want you like this. I am sure the hospital can call you if there are any changes in her condition."

Greg frowned but nodded his head that he would go home for a bit. He knew that Grissom was right.

Grissom left him to sit alone in the cafeteria for a few minutes. Finally Greg got up and went one more time to peek in on Eve before he left. It was killing him that she had not improved any. The longer she went without change, the worse her prognosis grew. He felt the anger build up inside him towards whoever was responsible for putting her in that bed.

He took Eve's hand gently into his like he had so often now and stared at her pale face. "Eve, it's Greg again. I am going to go home for a bit and try to get some sleep and freshen up at the orders of my boss." He smirked a bit thinking how everyone was worried about him.

"I love you. Get better for me soon, okay?" He kissed her hand softly and left her room.

Greg slowly went up the stairs to his apartment. He was placing his key in the door when he noticed a piece of paper wedged between the doorframe and door. He pulled out the folded piece of paper, figuring it was a note from his apartment management.

As he entered his place, he dropped the letter on his kitchen table. He decided to take a shower first thing, as he really needed one.

After toweling off and changing into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, he went to his fridge and grabbed a can of soda and pulled a TV dinner out of the freezer. He put the meal in the microwave to cook then sat at the table to go through his mail.

He picked up the letter that had been stuck in his door and unfolded it. Only one line of text was printed on the paper. "_How does it feel, Killer_?"

Greg stared for a moment at the piece of paper, taking in it's meaning. Then he shifted into CSI mode. He carefully placed the piece of paper back down on the table. He wanted to dust it for fingerprints right away, but if this was connected in anyway to Eve's accident, he could be considered contaminating evidence since they told him to stay away from it.

He groaned, hating that he could not deal with this himself, but any possible evidence leading to his person had to be done correctly.

He picked up his phone and dialed Nick. "Hey Nick. It's Greg. I think you should come by here with your kit. I received an ominous note in my door when I came home. I just opened it. All it says is '_How does it feel, Killer?_'"

"Really? Okay, I'll get Sara and we will be at your place in 20 minutes."

Greg's microwave beeped that his food was ready, but suddenly he had no appetite again. He just stared at the note and the words typed on it.

_How does it feel, Killer?_ Greg could only picture Aaron James being the one to write this. Was he really that stupid that he would not be suspected in doing this? Greg had a headache brewing as he mulled over the note.

The knock came on the door at just about the time he was expecting it.

"Hey guys," he said through a yawn as he opened the door for Nick and Sara.

"Damn, you look like hell, man." Nick exclaimed seeing his friend's tired eyes and rumpled hair.

"Thanks Nick. I sort of feel like it right about now too." He gestured for them to come inside.

"Do you ever clean this place up," Sara asked as she looked around at the mess that was his living room.

"What is it? Pick on Greg day? Give me a break will ya. I have not been home much lately. Remember I was in the process of moving too." Greg sighed and then pointed to the kitchen table, where the note was.

"There is the note." Nick already had his latex gloves on and picked it up. He read it then flipped it over to examine the paper.

"Looks like plain copy paper, printed on an ink jet printer." Greg rolled his eyes because he already had figured that much out.

"We'll take this back to the lab and check for prints." Nick bagged the note.

"I'll go dust your door for fingerprints. Maybe our person left some behind without thinking." Sara got out her print stuff and went to the door.

Greg sat down on his sofa and just watched, begrudgingly, while Sara and Nick worked. He rubbed his temples, willing away the headache pounding at him. His eye caught a picture he had of him and Eve that they took at an amusement park in town. She looked so beautiful and happy in the photo. _What if she never came out of the coma she was in?_ He closed his eyes and told himself not to think such thoughts.

"Greg? Greg!" He opened his eyes and realized Sara was staring at him.

"I'm sorry." He rubbed his hands over his face.

Sara looked over at Nick who also seemed concerned about Greg. "I'll meet you outside in a couple of minutes, Nick."

Nick nodded in understanding and left Sara with Greg.

Sara sat down next to Greg on his sofa. Greg looked sideways at Sara. "I feel another speech coming on."

Sara frowned at him. "Greg, you really need to get some sleep. You do not want Eve to see you looking like this when she wakes up."

Greg gazed down at his hands folded in his lap. "I know, you are like the 3rd person to tell me today. I came home to do that but then here was that note. Now I doubt I will be able to sleep thinking about that…and Eve."

He lifted his sad eyes to her. "I'm really getting more worried that she may never wake up. Her injuries are bad. Demetrius James died from his injuries; I am lucky she is still even alive."

Sara hated seeing Greg hurting like he was. "But that is the key though, she IS still alive, so there IS still hope."

He nodded his head slowly. "I know, I know. And I will try to get some sleep, I promise."

"Okay, I am holding you to that promise. I will leave you alone now so you can try to sleep. I'll be checking up on you later on to see for myself."

Greg rolled his eyes at her. "Yes Mommy," a slight smirk curving on his lips as he said it.

"Later," she replied with her own smirk and left him alone.

She got into the Denali, where Nick had been waiting for her. Nick gave her a questioning look. "He's really worried about Eve not recovering. He promised me he would try to get some sleep. I told him we would check up on him later to make sure he did." She smiled.

Nick nodded. "Good! Then let's at least try to find out who did this note and if it is part of what happened to Eve and catch this bastard for both their stakes."

Back at the crime lab, Nick took the note immediately to Mandy for fingerprints along with the prints Sara got off of Greg's door.

While they waited on results from Mandy, they filled Grissom in on the note. Grissom remained quiet for a few moments pondering over the new evidence.

Finally he spoke up. "I think it might be time to bring in Aaron James for some questioning." Nick looked at Sara, a grin growing on his face.

Sara ignored his brief show of arrogance and looked to Grissom. "If the under-Sheriff hears about this he will not be happy."

"You let me worry about him. But we will wait for results from Mandy just to see if she gives us something more definitive to go on."


	17. Chapter 17

A/N-Thanks to Astarcsi and Manavie for the reviews. Glad you are enjoying it

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Chapter 17

Greg walked up to the window of Eve's ICU room and saw the back of a man sitting in the chair next to her bedside, holding her hand. He did not recognize him as one of her co-workers who had visited before.

Greg walked into her room. The men, hearing him enter, turned his attention towards him. Greg slightly recognized his face.

"Oh hey! You must be Greg. Eve talks so much about you in her emails." The dark haired, handsome man stood up and held his hand out.

"I am Chad, Eve's brother. Sorry I did not get here sooner, but I was out of the country on business."

Greg smiled and shook the hand of the blue-eyed man. "That's okay. Sorry to meet you under such circumstances."

Greg looked over at Eve. "Has there been any change? I was under orders from my co-workers to go home and get some sleep and eat something, so I finally did." Greg did not know why he felt a need to explain himself.

"Oh, that is okay. The doctor told me you had done that; said you had been here all the time, pretty much. I am sure Eve appreciates that. As for her condition, the doctor was just in here and said it looks like she might be starting to breathe on her own."

Greg's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah, guess she needed a visit from her big brother, telling her to get her lazy ass out of this bed." Chad grinned at him.

Greg could see the same glint in Chad's eyes that Eve would have. It made Greg feel more comfortable around him.

"Well, I've been here a couple of hours and came straight in from the airport. I need to check into my hotel room and grab something to eat, and then I'll be back. Keep a good eye on our girl. I think she is going to be fine." Chad smiled sincerely at Greg.

Greg returned the smile. "Hopefully so."

----

Mandy came running up to Nick in the hallway of the crime lab. "Hey Nick, I got someone interesting off a hit on a partial print off of Greg's door. It is Aaron James."

"Really! Thanks Mandy. Anything off the note?"

"No, just Greg's prints."

"Okay, thanks. This is good enough. I'll take this news to Grissom."

Nick walked into Grissom's office to find Sara and Captain Brass in there already.

"Hey Mandy found a partial print match to Aaron James off of one of the door prints."

Sara looked surprised. "Really? What about the note?"

"Nothing but Greg's on there."

"Okay, so even though we got Aaron James at Greg's door, it does not mean he ran down Eve," Sara brought up.

"No," Grissom responded. "But it does prove that he has been at Greg's place and also goes towards a possible stalking charge."

"Well that is enough to bring him in for questioning," Brass said as he stood up from his chair. "I'll get one of my guys to bring him in."

Nick took Brass' seat once he left.

"In the meantime I need you two to go check out this abandoned car I just got information on. It happens to be a black Ford Taurus found by a homeowner out by the old Rascal Ranch. Seems the car had a dent and cracked windshield." Grissom said with eyebrows raised.

"So it seems our suspect is starting to make mistakes," Nick smiled.

"Perhaps," Sara took the address from Grissom and then looked at Nick. "I'm driving," she grinned at him. Nick rolled his eyes and followed her out the door.

They got to the location of the car after a 45-minute drive. It was morning already so they could see the dent on the hood and the windshield cracked. Nick went and opened the driver's side door. It looked like it had been cleaned out.

Sara examined the outside. The dent and windshield were the only obvious signs that the car was in an accident of some sort. Otherwise it had been cleaned.

There was no license plate on the car and nothing in the back seat or trunk. They had a tow truck take it back to the lab for further examination.

In the interrogation room at LVPD, Capt. Jim Brass and Gil Grissom sat opposite a very belligerent Aaron James. When he found out why he was being brought in for questioning, he became irate and threatened to sue for police harassment, which proved to be ironic to Brass as Aaron could be accused of harassment to a point also, in regards to Greg.

"We found your fingerprints on the outside of Greg Sanders apartment door. How did they get there?" Brass studied the young man's reaction.

"How the hell should I know? I do not even know where the guy lives. Maybe I have a friend in the same complex and was visiting him."

"So you just happened to touch everybody's door in the place on your way to visit your friend's." Brass' voiced was laced with sarcasm.

"No, maybe Sanders planted my prints on his door."  
"And how would Mr. Sanders have done that?" Again Brass asked.

"I don't know. He works in the crime lab. I am sure there is someway to plant my prints on his door," Aaron huffed.

Grissom was very assumed by the conversation so far, but decided to respond to Aaron's accusations.

"Mr. James, it is not quite possible to take someone else's fingerprints from a file on a computer and make them appear on a door or any object. They would have to physically be placed on the object."

Brass continued on, seeing as Aaron James kept quiet. "Mr. Sanders also claims he has caught you watching him three different times around town."

Aaron shifted in his seat. "That's bullshit! Yeah I saw him a couple times just by coincidence. I mean it was at the movies and a restuarant, everyone goes to the movies and eats out."

"Three times, within a short period of time, coincidence, huh. I never run into people I know outside of work in this town. What about you, Gil?"

Grissom responded with a raised eyebrow. "You know I do not believe in coincidences."

Aaron slammed his fist on the table. "Well it was, damn it!"

"What kind of car do you drive, Mr. James?"

Aaron smiled proudly. "A Honda Acura."

"And what color?"

"Black, why? Did he say I tried to run him down like he did my brother," he fumed defensively.

Brass looked at Grissom with amusement for a moment before continuing on.

"It's interesting you should say such a thing. Where were you the night of April 5th at about midnight until 3 am?"

"Why? I was at home sleeping probably." Aaron's eyes moved from Brass to Grissom.

"What's this about." He asked.

"Do you know a woman by the name of Eve Dunn?"

Grissom caught a hint of recognition in Aaron's eyes at the name, but it quickly disappeared.

"No, I never heard of her. Who is she?"

"Can anyone verify that you were at home, sleeping that night," Brass asked him.

"I don't know. My mom was out of town for a few days. I was home alone. What's going on here?" Aaron was growing very impatient.

"Eve Dunn was run down by a hit and run driver on the early morning hours of the 5th of April in the parking garage of her workplace."

Aaron looked coolly at both of them. "Still have no idea who you are talking about or why you are asking me about this?"

Grissom decided to try a different angle. "You have twice approached Greg Sanders and called him a 'Killer'".

Aaron looked smugly at him. "Well he is. He killed my brother."

Brass picked up on Gil's direction. "Do you watch the news or read the newspaper, Mr. James?"

"Sometimes, why?"

"Well you might have seen that Eve Dunn just happens to be Greg Sanders' girlfriend."

Aaron just shrugged his shoulders. "So?"

"Did you happen to leave a note in his door then saying 'How does it feel, Killer?'"

Aaron's eyes narrowed at Brass, who asked the question. "What are you implying? That I had something to do with running this girl down?"

Grissom spoke up. "We are just simply asking you a question. We already have your prints on his door. It's not too far of a stretch to think you put the note there."

"So what if I did? It's not a crime."

Brass just smiled. "No, but it does imply you have been lying some to us already. What's to say you have not told us the truth on other things?"

"I'm not saying anything more until I have a lawyer," Aaron exclaimed as he stood up from his chair.

Grissom and Brass just smiled at each other.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Nick and Sara had their coveralls on, working on the black Ford Taurus they had brought into the lab garage to examine for further evidence. Nick was closely examining the windshield when he noticed some blood still left in between the cracks of the glass.

"Got blood on the windshield. Looks like the car washer did not get it all." He took out a swab and got a sample of it. "I'm going to take this to Wendy right away and have her get working on it to see if it is a match to Eve's."

"Okay, I am going to finish dusting for prints, then vacuum the inside and see if the driver left anything behind for us."

Sara went to work on the car. She had dusted the steering wheel and found nothing and the whole center counsel. Mostly she found wipe marks all over the car. Someone did a thorough cleaning of it.

The vacuum did not come up with much either. No hairs or fibers of anything to help figure out who drove that car. She dusted the door handle on the driver's side and found nothing, but when she got to the passenger's side, she found one. She smiled to herself and lifted the print.

She wrote down the VIN number from the car and took that and the print she lifted into the lab. She gave the print to Mandy and then went to work on the VIN number herself.

Nick came in to and saw Sara at the computer. "Wendy got a match to Eve's blood on the windshield, so that is definitely the car. Did you get something from it?"

"I found a print on the passenger side door handle that Mandy is running now. I am running the VIN number on the car now to see who it is registered to."

The computer was running the numbers and came across the owner's information.

"Hmmm, it looks like it is a stolen car. It belonged to a Kurt A. Jones in Boulder City. Seems it was reported stolen over a month ago. Perhaps we should give him a call and ask him some questions."

Nick smiled. "What's the phone number?"

After Wendy gave them a positive match on blood results from the windshield belonging to Eve and talking with Kurt Jones, they went into Grissom's office for an update.

Grissom was sitting behind his desk with his reading glasses on, looking through some paperwork. His eyes glanced upward, looking over the top of his glasses at Sara and Nick entering his office.

"We got a positive match that the car found is indeed the car that hit Eve. It is a car that was stolen about a month ago. We talked to the owner just to make sure the car did not have the damages it has now."

"I found a fingerprint on the passenger side door. We are still waiting for Mandy to get us a match on that," Sara said as she stood next to Nick.

"How did it go with Aaron James?" Nick had been eager to find out how he reacted.

"Well, we caught him in a lie and then he demanded a lawyer." Grissom went on to give them more details about what Aaron James said.

"He's sounding more and more guilty." Nick replied after hearing the details.

"Yes he is, but we still do not have anything positively connecting him to the hit and run," Sara pointed out.

Grissom nodded in agreement with her. "Yes, so far we do not really have anything to hold him on. Greg has to press charges against him for us to really hold him longer."

Mandy walked into Grissom's office. "I got a print match from the door handle. It belongs to a Derrick Greene. He has priors for car theft and armed robbery. Most recently he got out of jail in February. Here's his sheet." She handed Grissom the sheet of paper.

"Thanks Mandy." Grissom studied the sheet. "Let's pay Mr. Greene a visit."

Derrick Greene lived in a North Las Vegas neighborhood. Brass, Nick and a uniformed officer made the trip to the place of his residence. It was an older neighborhood with some rough surroundings.

They pulled up in front of the house. The uniformed officer and Brass led the way, with Nick right behind them.

The house's screen door was open making them able to see inside. All three of the men had their hands on their guns.

Brass knocked on the paint-chopped doorframe. "Derrick Greene, this is Capt. Jim Brass of the Las Vegas PD. We need to ask you some questions."

Suddenly they saw a figure dart out of a room and cross the house.

"He's heading out the backdoor," the uniformed officer yelled before taking off on foot after him. Brass and Nick both drew their weapons and went around the back of the house.

Nick caught up with the officer, who spotted the suspect running into the next yard. The officer had about the same build as Nick and was making good time on the suspect.

"Police, freeze. Put your hands behind your head." The officer yelled as the suspect tried to leap over a fence. The suspect stopped and obeyed the officer. Nick kept his gun drawn as the uniformed officer got out his handcuffs to cuff the suspect.

Brass came up to the suspect after he was read his rights and cuffed.

"Derrick, you must be guilty of something seeing as you were running away. I wonder if you are familiar with a 2003 Ford Taurus?" Brass knew it was Derrick Greene from his mug shot on file.

Derrick grunted. "I don't know whatcha talking about."

Well maybe the trip to the station will refresh your memory." Brass nodded to the officer to go on ahead and take in to LVPD.

Brass smiled at Nick. "Looks like things might be coming together on this."

Greg stared at Eve, who was now breathing on her own. It relieved him a lot that she was finally showing some signs of improvement.

Chad and he had been taking turns sitting with Eve. It was refreshing having Chad to talk with. He would tell Greg stories from their childhood and gave him even more insight to Eve. He told him about how strong she was when they got the news about their mother being killed in the line of duty.

Her brother held her same positive attitude and assured Greg she would be fine.

Chad came in the room. "Hey Greg," he said in a hushed tone. Greg acknowledged him and got up and met with him outside the room.

"Anything new since my last visit," Chad asked Greg.

"No, no change since you left. Did you catch some z's?"

"Yes, so now it is your turn. Go home and take it easy. I will call you if her condition changes at all."

"Thanks Chad. Glad you are here now, makes me feel better about leaving her with you around."

"It is no problem. She is my sister after all." Chad smiled.

Greg said goodbye to Eve before he left. He kissed her forehead, brushing away her hair to the side. "I love you. Come back to me soon."

He headed out and went back to his apartment for a few hours of rest.

Meanwhile, back at LVPD, Nick sat in with Brass on this interrogation of Derrick Greene.

When Derrick Greene found out that they had evidence that he had stolen the car, he clamed up until his lawyer was present. So now that he had his lawyer, the questioning could continue.

"Derrick, you have already spent sometime in jail and first thing you do when you get out is steal another car. But then you take the next step and are involved with a hit and run." Brass watched the young man's expression stay stone cold.

"Do you have a witness that places my client as the driver of that car that night of the hit and run," Greene's lawyer asked, while making notes on a legal pad.

"Well we have his fingerprints on the passenger side door of said vehicle. We also know the driver of the car was black," Nick pointed out the evidence.

"That still does not mean he was driving the car that night," the lawyer responded.

"Why doesn't your client tell us who else had access to the car, then." Brass retorted.

"Look, I don't know nothing about no hit and run. The car was not in my possession all the time. Maybe someone else borrowed it that night," Derrick responded.

"So you just let your friends drive around in a car you stole?"

Derrick Greene just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not saying anything more."

Brass smiled now. "While you were waiting for your lawyer to get here, we got a search warrant for your place."

Nick produced a photo that had found at Derrick's house. "It seems you were friends with Demetrius James."

The photo showed Derrick with Demetrius and another guy, posing for the camera.

Derrick looked down at the photo with recognition. "Yeah, so?"

"So the victim of the hit and run happens to be the girlfriend of Greg Sanders, the man who accidentally killed Demetrius in self-defense."

"That was no accident. He purposely ran him down. He deserves whatever he gets," Derrick Greene yelled. His lawyer just looked at him with shock.

"Don't say another work, Derrick," his lawyer warned him.

Derrick just huffed at him. "These pigs think they can get away with anything."

"Shut up now, Derrick," his lawyer demanded. "I need a moment alone with my client."

Brass and Nick just grinned. "Sure we'll give you a couple minutes alone." Brass said as he stood up.

Outside the interrogation room, Nick asked Brass if he thought that Derrick was their guy.

"It does look like it, doesn't it?"

Sara came down the hallway to them. "Hey guys. We got a visual match to a jacket found at Derrick Greene's house to the one worn by the driver in the surveillance video." Sara showed them the two photos. One was of a dark blue athletic jacket with a small Addias symbol over the left chest. The other was a close up of the jacket worn by the suspect in the car. It had the same symbol on it.

"One step closer," Nick smiled.

Brass' phone rang. He took the call, while Nick caught Sara up with the interrogation of Derrick Greene.

"So Derrick Greene looks to be the one who ran Eve down. Guess it was not Aaron James after all."

Nick frowned. "It still bugs me about him though, stalking Greg."

Brass came back to them. "Looks like Aaron James' lawyer freed him for now, since we can't hold him on anything.

"I'm planning on seeing Greg later on, I will ask him about pressing charges or not."

"Good, then let's see if Mr. Greene's lawyer is ready for us yet," Brass grinned.

"I'll catch you later." Sara left Nick and Brass back to their questioning duties.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter19

"Look, that is my jacket but I was not driving that car that night," Derrick said after minutes of Brass and Nick producing the photos of the jacket.

"So you are saying someone used a car you stole and then wears your jacket to commit a crime?" Brass did not believe him for a second.

"If I fess up and tell you, will I still have to serve time again," Derrick asked them.

Brass smirked. "Well you might be able to get a reduced sentence, but being a repeat offender, you will not get out of it all together. That is all up to the DA."

Derrick Greene whispered to his lawyer for a moment. "Okay. Yes I stole the car, but I did not run that girl down. I swear."

"Then who did," Brass demanded.

"Hey, that car disappeared from my place two days before that hit and run happened. What I do know is that Demetrius' brother, Aaron, became obsessed with getting some sort of revenge on that CSI dude that killed his brother. He came by my place once and asked where I got that car. I told him I got it from out of town. He knew I had stolen it. He became fascinated with it, saying he was thinking about getting a different car. Then he crashed at my place for a couple nights. One morning I get up and Aaron is gone and so is my car. I did not see Aaron again until yesterday. I had tried calling him but he never answered. Then when I saw him, I asked him where he had gone and where the car was. He told me he left early that one morning because his mom wanted him to come home for something. He said the car was still there when he left that morning. He also returned my jacket, saying it was cold that morning and he borrowed it. He was acting all weird though. Very agitated and nervous he seemed. That's what I can tell you. So I would talk to him about your hit and run."

Brass and Nick just stared at each other for a moment.

"Thanks Derrick. We will talk to Mr. James again and I will discuss your case with the DA."

Brass and Nick left room after Derrick and his lawyer cleared out. "Damn and we just let him go," Brass said angrily.

Brass got on his cell phone and called in for Aaron James to be picked up again.

"I'm going back to the lab and let them know what is going on. Then I'm going to fill Greg in, since I have not spoken to him in awhile." Nick trotted off to get back to the lab.

Greg has slept for 6 hours, the most he had in one shot in a few days recently. He had not received a call from the hospital or Chad, so he assumed Eve still had not come out of her coma. He was trying to stay positive because she was at least breathing on her own now, but it was still hard sitting there with her and wondering if he would ever see her green eyes again.

It was around 2 in the afternoon. He had got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and was heading to his door to leave when his cell phone rang. He looked to see who it was and it was Nick.

"Hey Nick! You got some news for me?" Greg said as he began unlocking the door to leave.

"Hi Greg, I hope I am not disturbing you?"

"No, I am just about to leave my place to go back to the hospital. I was just home getting some sleep."

"Great! Listen can you stop by the lab first and I will fill you in on some interesting finds."

"Sure thing. I hope it is all good news." Greg grinned to himself, hopefully.

"It is, but I just rather tell you in person."

Greg was opening his door. "Okay then, I'll see you in a …" Suddenly Greg saw someone in his doorway. Before he could say any more, his phone was knocked out of his left hand with a baseball bat that nearly grazed his head too.

Nick heard a yell of pain and a clattering noise before the line went dead.

"Greg? Greg!" Sara had been standing next to Nick during the phone call.

"What's wrong?" Her eyes were wide with concern.

"I think something is going down at Greg's right now. We getter get out there with some officers." Nick filled in Sara while they ran down to Grissom's office. Nick told Grissom what he heard and they got a hold of dispatch and then proceeded to all leave in their Denali's to Greg's place.

Greg stumbled back into his apartment, clutching his arm in pain from the hit it took from the bat. Greg looked into the dark, furious eyes of Aaron James, holding the baseball bat, shutting the door behind him.

"I thought doing in your girlfriend would be enough for me, but I guess not, seeing as she has not died yet. I should have just come after you in the first place. Now I will take care of you once and for all; the man who killed my brother."

Greg quickly tried to duck out of the path of the bat coming straight at his head. He managed to save his head the damage but his left shoulder took the brunt of the hit instead. He fell to the ground from the force of hit and groaned out in pain.

For a split second, Greg wished he carried a gun for once in his life, but since he did not he had to think fast to keep Aaron from smashing his brains in.

"Look Aaron, I did not mean to kill your brother, I swear. I was just protecting myself." As Greg spoke, he slowly backed his way further into his apartment, looking for something to help him defend himself.

Aaron swung the bat again; this time purposely-hitting Greg's already hurt shoulder. Greg cried out in pain, hearing his own bone crack.

Greg was trying hard to keep his focus on Aaron, but the pain radiating down his left side was making it hard.

"You son of a bitch, you ran my brother down without a thought and you got off scot free. Hell, that does not work for me."

As Aaron was about to take another swing at him, Greg grabbed a beer bottle off his coffee table and threw it at Aaron.

Aaron tried to swing at the bottle but missed. It hit him in the forehead. He stumbled back a bit, still keeping the bat in hand. It unbalanced him long enough for Greg to get back to his feet and scramble into the kitchen before Aaron saw him and came after him again.

"Guess you were not too good at baseball, huh?" Aaron stopped in his tracks for a moment, blood dripping down his face where the bottle hit him. His eyes were radiating fury. Greg realized it probably was not the best thing to say to someone who was out to kill you.

Aaron made a motion to swing the bat at Greg again. Greg grabbed a dirty pan out of the sink, thankful for a second that he had not cleaned his dishes yet.

Greg countered the bat with the pan, only to have it lost out of his hand in the battle with the bat.

"Aaron, you do not want to do this. You do not want to be a murderer like your brother was. Think about what that would do to your mother."

Aaron glared at Greg, his teeth clentched. "You know nothing about my family, nothing about my mom." Aaron swung again, but Greg had ducked down onto the ground avoiding the hit. He ran back to the living room with Aaron closely behind him.

Greg started to throw anything he could get his hands on at Aaron. He was glad it was his left shoulder that was injured, so he still had his good arm to throw things.

He managed to hit Aaron a few times in the face to slow him down, but Greg was backing himself into a corner with not much left to toss at Aaron.

Aaron finally seeing that he had Greg back into a corner, helpless, grinned maliciously. "Payback is a bitch, isn't it?"

Greg tried to shield himself from the next swing, but failed this time. Aaron hit Greg hard in his side, causing Greg to fall down to his knees, buckling over in pain.

"Now how does it feel, Killer?" Greg could barely hear Aaron. He was struggling to catch his breath after the last hit.

Greg mustered up enough breath to look up at his attacker and say through gritted teeth, "It feels great!"

Greg did not know why he kept antagonizing his attacker more, but somehow it made him feel better.

Aaron became infuriated. He took another swing and only busted on Greg's left shoulder again. Greg felt waves of dizziness come over him from the pain.

Aaron was enjoying seeing Greg in pain, but he wanted to finish him now.

"Say goodbye, Killer!"

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A/N-Surprise, surprise...cliffhanger. :) What will happen to Greg? 


	20. Chapter 20

**Astarcsi -**_Thanks for your review. I am glad someone is enjoying my story at least. LOL It is getting closer to the end now._

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Aaron was poised to make his death swing when the door burst open behind him.

"Police! Freeze! Drop your weapon now!" Aaron looked back at the two uniformed officers and Nick Stokes, guns drawn, ready to shoot. Then he looked back down at Greg, whose head was down as he was still finding it painful to breathe.

"Put your weapon down now or we will shoot," The officers warned him again.

Aaron lowered his arms and dropped the bat to the floor. The officers quickly came up to him, cuffing him and reading him his rights. All the time, Aaron stared with hate at Greg. Greg could feel Aaron's eyes on him. He glanced up at him. "No matter what happened, you would have been caught," he said through short breaths. Aaron just sneered at him as the officers moved him towards the door.

Sara came running in behind them, going to Greg. Grissom came in behind her.

"Greg?" Sara's voice was laced with concern, seeing Greg holding his side and his head down.

He meekly looked up at her. "Hey," his voice sounding weak.

"Someone call the paramedics," she yelled out.

"They should be here soon," Grissom said in response.

Nick came over and just glared at Aaron as he passed him being led out by the officers. Then he bent down next to Greg.

"Can you get up?" Greg nodded his head and slowly stood up, wincing in pain. They helped him over to the sofa to sit down. Nick grabbed his left shoulder, not knowing he was injured. Greg groaned in pain.

"Sorry, didn't know," Nick apologized.

Greg just leaned back onto the sofa pillows. "That's okay."

Grissom came over to them. "Can you tell us what happened, Greg?"

Greg nodded. He spoke softly and slowly, trying to, but failing to, ignore the pain he was in.

By the time the paramedics had brought in a stretcher for Greg, he had finished recapping what went down.

"I'm going to meet you at the hospital." Nick said to Greg as they wheeled him out if his apartment.

Grissom and Sara stayed for a few minutes at Greg's place collecting some additional bits of evidence from the confrontation.

Grissom went over to LVPD to meet up with Brass about Aaron James, while Sara headed back to the lab to take the evidence in.

Greg hated being stuck in the hospital bed, a floor down from Eve. He told the doctor he would be fine, but the doctor wanted to keep him under observation for 24 hours, since he was still having trouble breathing.

Nick walked in and saw Greg's left shoulder and arm all bandaged up and in a sling. He was sitting up in the bed, but his eyes were closed.

Nick was about to leave, not wanting to wake him up with Greg opened his eyes and saw him.

"Where do you think you are going," Greg asked him. Nick sauntered over and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"Well I thought you were asleep, so I did not want to wake you."

"Nah, I am awake, just resting my eyes. Although they have given me some pretty nice painkillers so I apologize in advance for my responses."

"I am sure it won't be nothing that I would not be expecting to come from you, anyway." Nick grinned at him.

Greg frowned. "So how come it took you all so long to get to my place?"

"Hey, we got there in time, just be thankful for that. So how long are they keeping you here?"

Greg frowned some more. "Overnight observation due to my cracked ribs poking at my lungs, but I told them I spent all my time here anyway, just not as the patient. Doctor said he did not care. He wanted me to lie still for at least 24 hours. So I am stuck in this bed until sometime tomorrow. I really wanted to check on Eve, but he would not let me even do that."

"Sorry man. I am sure they will let you know if anything changes in her condition though."

Greg sighed heavily and then winced in pain. "Damn, this sucks."

Nick could not help but really sympathize with him. "Maybe you should just try to get some sleep, Greg. It would probably be best for you at this point."

"Perhaps. I am just glad Aaron is being put away now. I told you he was after me. I just knew it."

"Yeah you were right all along. Sorry we were not able to put him away before he got to you too."

Greg shook his head. "No, I am just sorry he dragged Eve into this. She did not deserve this. I can only hope that she makes a full recovery."

"Yeah you are right about that. I am sure you and her will be your happy little selves again soon, Greg." Nick smiled at his friend. Greg did not return the smile.

"I better let you get some rest. I am going back to the lab for a couple more hours to finish up some stuff. I'll be by tomorrow to see you and fill you in on everything."

"Okay, tell the others I am going to be fine. See you tomorrow then." Greg smiled at Nick as he got up and left.

Greg sunk his head back into his pillow, closing his eyes. His mind replayed the events leading up to his own stay in the hospital. He found himself really hating Aaron James more and more, thinking about how Aaron was upset that Eve had not died; that he had not been successful in killing her.

Greg's mind began to drift with random images of his time with Eve before he fell asleep finally.

It was around 7 pm and Greg had been awake for a little while. He had been flipping through the TV channels and had stopped on Court TV, on a forensics show. Watching it only made him realize how much he missed working the last few days. Someday soon he would have to though. He could not wait at Eve's bedside forever for her to wake up, especially since he did not know when that would be. It was getting harder for him to hope for her recovery.

He turned his attention to the door as Chad Dunn walked in.

"Wow, I heard that you were admitted to the hospital, when I asked Eve's doctor if he had heard from you. What happened?"  
Greg clicked off the TV, since he really was not paying attention to it anyway and began to brief Chad in on what happened. He did not feel a need to give all the details to him; he just gave him the basics.

"So this Aaron James is the one who hit Eve, then," Chad asked after Greg finished telling him his ordeal.

"Yeah. I had him pegged all along but they did not have anything to prove at the time that he did it."

"So hitting Eve was his sick way of exacting revenge on you?"

Greg felt the guilt rising in him about Eve. "Yeah." He avoided looking in Chad's direction.

Chad was a good reader of people, just like his sister and he could see Greg was feeling responsible for what happened to her.

"Greg, I know and Eve knows it is not easy working in law enforcement. Even as a CSI, you still are at risk. Heck anyone in this world these days are at risk. You cannot be responsible for what someone like Aaron James does. You couldn't have known he would go after Eve instead of you at first. Don't blame yourself for what happened to her. She would not want you to."

Greg's eyes were sad as he looked at Chad. "I miss her. I really miss her." Then he grinned at Chad. "It is amazing how much you two think alike."

Chad smiled back. "Well we were always close, but when we lost mom, it really brought us closer together. My dad was very grateful he had us around. Now it is just the two of us and we hardly see each other, but keep in touch well via the Internet."

"So how is she doing anyway? No change yet, I suppose."

Chad sighed a little. "No, still the same. This Aaron guy who did this to her, he'll be put away for life, right? I mean he attacked you too, now."

Greg nodded. "Believe me, I will make sure there is enough evidence to make sure he is locked up for good. And I am sure my co-workers are gathering it all right now."  
"Good, good. I wouldn't mind a piece of him myself," Chad declared.

"Get in line. I am sure Eve would too if she could."

Chad laughed. "Yeah she can be a little firecrackers when she wants too."

"You're telling me," Greg laughed but then immediately regretted it when the pain shot through him.

Chad could not help but notice Greg wince in pain. "Sorry, didn't mean to cause you pain."

"Nah, it's not that bad. I will be fine. I've had worse," Greg said reflecting on the beating he took after hitting Demetrius James. So much had happened in the last few months. He just was hoping it was all coming to an end now, with Aaron James finally being put in jail.

Chad noticed that Greg's mind seemed to be elsewhere and decided it was time for him to go. "Well, I am going to get a few hours rest, since visiting hours are about to end. I will let you know when I get back so you do not have to worry about Eve being alone for too long."

"Thanks. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to see her."

"Take care. Hope you feel better tomorrow. I'll see you then."

Greg said goodbye to Chad and then closed his eyes as his pain medication was taking effect on him. He said a silent prayer for Eve before he faded into sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

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Another day passed and Greg was back at Eve's bedside. Nick had come by earlier and updated Greg on the happenings at the lab.

Aaron James had been belligerent ever since he was taken into custody. His mother had stood by him, but was not strongly defending him like she had with Demetrius.

They found out that Aaron James had been kicked out of high school years before for getting into one too many fights. The one that was the final straw, he had threatened a fellow student with a baseball bat. He had been sentenced to juvenile detention for 6 months when he was 16. After that he managed to stay out of trouble, until his brother died.

He had started hanging out with his old school buddies, people like Derrick Greene and then there was the stalking of Greg. His attempt on Eve was thought to be premeditated. Just the video from the parking garage could prove that.

Greg was satisfied that Aaron would most likely get a life long sentence. The ordeal that started with Demetrius James was almost all over, except for the fact that Eve was still comatose.

Greg was still on some pain medication that tended to make him sleep a lot while he sat in Eve's room.

He was dreaming about Aaron James in his apartment. He was trapped in the corner again, waiting for Aaron to take the finishing swing at him when he saw Eve walking behind Aaron. She looked so deathly pale, but lovely at the same time. She just kept calling out his name in a low whisper. He could not figure out what she was doing there.

Suddenly he woke up. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and heard his name being said quietly. He looked over and Eve's beautiful green eyes gazed back at him. He felt his heart start beating faster in excitement.

"Eve," he exclaimed, as he moved the chair closer to her bedside and took her hand. She made a small smile at him, her eyes not fully open. He grinned back widely.

"What happened," she said in a whispery voice. She felt so tired and disoriented when she first opened her eyes but seeing Greg at her bedside made her feel better. She wondered what happened though. How she was in the hospital and Greg's arm was in a sling and a cast on it.

Greg did not want to overwhelm her with all that happened. "You were in an accident. Your injuries were pretty serious, but you are awake now. That is all that matters to me." His happiness was washing over his face. He did not realize how relieved he would feel seeing her awake until now.

Eve was still confused and her head really ached. "But what happened to your arm? Where you with me?"

Greg swallowed. He really did not want to get into details about what happened with him and Aaron James. _What should I tell her?_

Luckily for him Eve's doctor came into the room.

"Well, look who has finally woken up." He came over to the other side of Eve's bed and smiled at her.

Eve looked from Greg to the doctor. She felt weird how they both seemed so surprised to see her awake.

"How long have I been here," she finally asked in a low raspy voice.

"Miss Dunn, you have been in a coma for 8 days now. You sustained multiple injuries as a result of the incident. I need to run a few tests on you now."

The doctor looked at Greg as a nurse entered the room. Greg knew the doctor wanted him to leave the room briefly.

Eve saw Greg get up and became worried. "I'll be back once the doctor says he is done." He leaned down carefully, due to his own injuries and kissed her forehead.

He went outside her room and watched through the window as the doctor and nurse seemed to take her vitals and ask her some questions.

The doctor came out a few minutes later. "She seems to be doing fairly well, considering. It does seem she had some loss of memory from the night of the incident, which is to be expected. I'd advise on not telling her the details of what happened yet. We don't want to get her upset unnecessarily."

"So she should be okay then?"

"Well as long as she does not lapse back into a coma, she will be fine. Of course she will still be under close monitoring for a few more days to make sure that does not happen."

"I can go back in and see her then," Greg asked anxiously.

"Yes, but she needs her rest, so do not keep her awake too much longer."

Greg nodded. "Thanks Dr. Reynolds. I am just glad she is finally awake."

The doctor smiled at Greg in agreement and left Greg to go back into the room. He could tell that Eve was trying to stay awake just to see him again, but her eyes kept fluttering shut.

He sat down gingerly so she would not notice him wince from his own bruises. She just smiled weakly at him.

"Your brother has been here. We have been taking turns staying at your bedside. I just called him and let him know you woke up. He said he would be by later."

Eve merely nodded. She was so tired, but she just wanted to look at Greg a bit longer. She felt like she had not seen him in forever. His big brown eyes gave away how tired he was. She still wondered what happened to his arm, but she did not have the energy to ask about it again.

Greg could see she really needed more rest now. "Eve, you need to sleep. I am not going anywhere. I will be here when you wake up again. Just get some rest."

She nodded slightly and closed her eyes. She drifted back into sleep immediately.

After about an hour, Chad had come by. Greg saw him and met him outside the room.

"How's she doing," Chad asked Greg.

"She's sleeping right now. She only fell back asleep a little over an hour ago. The doctor says she still needs all the rest she can get."

"But she seems to be okay otherwise, right?" Chad's voice was sounding a bit concerned.

"The doctor seems to think so. She asked about what happened. We are just saying it was an accident for now. Dr. Reynolds says we do not want to upset her in anyway right now."

Chad nodded in agreement. "That I agree with." He looked in on her.

"Mind if I spend sometime with her now?"

Greg motioned for him to go ahead. "I'm going to grab something to eat then I'll be back."

Greg went into the cafeteria to grab a pre-made ham and cheese sandwich. He took a seat and watched the news on the TV while he ate. He was surprised to see his own face pop up on screen along with Aaron James. They were talking about Aaron being arrested for assaulting him and being responsible for the hit and run on Eve. They brought up the whole thing about Demetrius and the cause of Aaron James' attacks. Greg sort of looked around hoping the few people in the cafeteria did not recognize him. He was lucky enough most people there were talking and not paying attention to the television. He was glad when the newscast was over.

He knew he would still have to deal with the trial eventually, but all he really wanted to focus on now was Eve making a full recovery and his getting back to work. He was really missing his co-workers and being out in the field with them working on cases. Once he knew that Eve would be okay on her own again, he was going to get his life back on track again.

He pulled out his cell phone and decided to call Nick and inform him and the others that Eve had woken up. He had not thought about doing it until now.

"Stokes," Nick said as he answered his cell phone.

"Hey, it's Greg. I got some good news! Eve finally woke up."

"That's great, Greg. Is she going to be okay then?"

"The doctor seems to think so. I mean she still needs sometime, but yeah she should be good."

Nick was smiling to himself. "I am really happy for you, man. I'll pass the good news onto the others for you."

"Thanks Nick. I appreciate it."

Nick updated Greg on some happenings on his case and other things at the lab before having to get back to work.

Greg went back to Eve's room, but stopped at the door seeing Chad talking with Eve, who was awake again. He was going to give them some more time together alone, but Eve spotted him outside the door. She waved her hand for him to come in.

He came in and Chad smiled at him. "Were your ears burning? We were just talking about you!"

"Oh really? I hope it was all good then," Greg grinned, looking back and forth between the brother and sister.

Eve smiled at him. "Of course it was." Her voice still sounded raspy, but she was speaking in more than a whisper tone.

"Glad to hear it. I can't have anyone talking bad about me around here." Greg was smiling from ear to ear at her. He had not realized how incomplete he had been feeling when she was in the coma. He had never felt that strongly about anyone in his life before her. Hopefully now things would be getting back to normal with his life.

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Almost near the end. Only one chapter left. 


	22. Chapter 22

A/N- This is it. The last chapter. I wanted to wrap any loose ends with this chapter and then some. :D I hope you all enjoyed it.

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A few weeks had gone by and Eve was home from the hospital, waiting for Greg to come home from work. She had another migraine brewing, which was something her doctor told her would probably be a frequent thing for her now due to the injuries she had suffered. Her doctor told her she was actually lucky she had not had worse affects from the head injuries.

Once the doctor had said it was okay for Greg to tell her what really happened, he did. When he told her, nothing had triggered her memory of it.

She had been shocked that Aaron James had been stalking Greg. She was a bit mad at Greg though, for not telling her at the time about his suspicions of Aaron following them. She let him know that maybe if she had known about him, she might have noticed him at some point too. She knew she lay a bit of a guilt trip on Greg, but she wanted a truthful relationship, especially when it concerned their well beings.

Greg had promised to tell her about anything that would concern her or their relationship in the future. He knew she had a point when she said she would have been more cautious of her surroundings had she known about Aaron James.

She wasn't able to stay mad at him for long, though, once she found out how his arm ended up in the sling. She had heard from Greg's friend, Nick, how much he had been affected by her being in a coma too. Nick even had advised her to take it easy on him.

Her brother had gone back home after he knew that she was feeling better. He still called her daily to make sure she was truly okay.

She planned on going back to work on a limited basis soon. She, like Greg, was growing bored with being at home all the time. Greg had gone back to work a couple days after she had recovered from the coma. She told him to go back because she could see he needed to be back there. Anytime he spoke with one of his co-workers on the phone she could see he missed it.

Eve popped one of her migraine pills into her mouth to thwart the oncoming one. She went to the sofa and lied down until Greg came. Greg was taking her out someplace when he got home. He had been doing little things for her ever since she had been home again. Yesterday he had brought home flowers for her. The day before he took her out for a nice meal. She was almost becoming embarrassed by all the attention he was giving to her.

She ended up falling asleep on the sofa while she waited for him. When she woke up he was still not home. She figured he got caught up at work. She turned on the TV and caught the local news channel. They were on the crime beat report and they were showing the investigators on the scene of a murder in Henderson. She always found herself trying to see if Greg was there. A few times she had spotted him, this time she did not. She did see Sara and his boss, Grissom, working this particular scene.

The next thing they showed caught her attention. They mentioned that the preliminary hearing for Aaron James case was coming up the next week. They showed his photo and then were showing photos of the car used to hit her. She had seen the photos before but nothing triggered her memory. However this time it was different; she remembered.

She was leaving late that evening from a night out with some friends at one of the hotel clubs. She left them early, saying she was tired and headed out to the parking garage. It played back in her head. She was walking to her car. She heard a car engine revving. She heard the car headed in her direction. She turned to look and barely had time to register the black car coming at her, when it hit her. Then she remembered nothing except waking up in the hospital.

She shivered at the memory. She wrapped her arms around herself. The coldness of the act now that she could remember it really bothered her. So much so, she did not even hear Greg come in.

Greg saw her face pale and her arms wrapped around herself. "Eve, what's wrong," his voice sounding concerned.

She turned her head and saw him. "I remember what happened, " she said in a haunted voice.

Greg came over and sat down next to her. "Can you tell me what you remember?"

She nodded her head and told him exactly what she remembered.

"I really did not think about how cold and calculated the act had been until I remembered seeing that car come directly at me," she said after she told him her memories.

"I'm so sorry, Eve. It should have never happened. I should have put a restraining order against him or something."

Eve could see the guilt in Greg's soulful eyes. "We've been over this several times. Stop blaming yourself already before I make you regret it." She gave him a little mischievous smile, not wanting to dwell on the incident again.

He noticed her grin and matched it. "You know threats like that turn me on."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Please, anything turns you on." She giggled.

He chuckled but turned a bit more serious again. "I have to ask, did you see his face at all? Can you picture him at all?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to picture the driver, but all she remembered was seeing the car. She opened her eyes and shook her head. "No, nothing, but you have enough evidence against him without me identifying him, right?"

"Yeah we do. It just would have been a final nail in his coffin, you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do. So, um, changing the subject, how was your day at work?"

"It was good. I found a key piece of evidence at a murder scene. It linked the suspect to the murder. The detective brought him in for questioning and the guy slipped up and ended admitting to the murder."

"That's great. Glad to hear things are going well at work for you. Now, where are you taking me today?"

"You had a nap, didn't you," he grinned at her, knowing she usually was more chipper lately after having one.

She frowned at him. "I have become that predictable, huh?"

He rubbed her shoulder in comfort. "No, you just seem rested. No migraine today?"

"Well I had one starting and I took my meds and napped." She shrugged.

"Oh I see, but it is gone now, right?" He asked, as he was worried about her.

"Yep, I am fine now."

"Okay then, I am going to take a quick shower and we'll go."

As he started to get up, she yanked him back down. "Where are we going," she demanded.

He just grinned. "It is a surprise."

She frowned at him. "Do I need to dress up for this surprise?"

He looked at what she was wearing; a turquoise blue blouse with some beading on it and a black pair of cropped pants. "You look fine, as always." He gave her one of his 1000-kilowatt smiles.

"Fine, whatever. Just go take your shower. I will be waiting." She shooed him off.

Greg was so glad she was back home. He had missed her spunky attitude. She was easy to kid around with and he liked that. Even after all she had been through, she still remained positive.

After Greg had taken his shower and put on a pair of black slacks and a burnt orange colored, button down shirt, he told Eve he was ready.

Greg was unusually quiet while he drove to the mystery location. Eve wondered what he was up to this time around. They were heading southeast out of the city. Eve started to make guesses as to where they were going.

"Uh, we wouldn't happen to be going on our missed trip to Lake Mead, would we?"

Greg glanced over at her. "Getting warmer."

She pursed her lips together. "You know I do not like surprises much."

"I'm sure you will like this one, though," Greg grinned.

"Fine, fine! I'll play along for now." She folded her arms and pouted playfully at him.

After about another 20 minutes, she started to recognize where they were. "Wait? You aren't taking me to…no way!" She looked in awe as they pulled into the Green Valley Ranch Resort. "I've always wanted to go here."

He looked over at her with a devilish grin. "I know!"

She eyed him suspiciously. "How do you know? I never told you."

"I'm an investigator. It's my job to know things."

"Yeah crime scene stuff. Who did you talk to? Wait, let me guess, Jessica."

Greg shook his head as he parked the car. "I do not reveal my sources."

"You know, we could leave if you do not want to have a day at the spa. I just thought you might like it but…"

Eve cut him off before he could finish. "Oh no!! We are going!"

Greg laughed and opened the door to get out. He thought it would be odd for him to go to a spa, after Jessica had suggested it to him when he asked her about something special Eve would like. He spoke to Chad and he had said that he had taken his girlfriend a few times on a spa day. He told Greg it was wonderful and lots of guys did it with their girlfriends.

They had Swedish massages and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the sauna and by the pool. Greg had secretly packed a bag for both of them with their swimwear. Greg had also made dinner reservations for the evening. He picked this day since he was off of work for two days. He told his co-workers his plan and they said they would not bother him.

He stared at Eve, who looked very refreshed and radiant in the mint green sundress she purchased earlier at the resort's boutique. She just kept raving about how much she enjoyed the day so far.

Greg started feeling nervous towards the end of the meal. Eve did not notice. She was feeling too relaxed and enjoying her glass of wine.

Eve finished the last bit of her Carmel Crème Brule. She sighed happily. "Greg, this has been the most amazing day. Thank you so much. No wonder why I love you so much, even if Jessica did give you the idea," she winked.

Greg bowed his head a bit, feeling embarrassed and anxious. "I just wanted to make a really special day for us."

"Well you have succeeded," she smiled broadly at him.

"Good. I just hope the next thing goes as well." Greg's hands felt clammy as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the small, black velvet box.

He took a steadying breath and took Eve's hand across the table. He gazed into her dark green eyes. He was so nervous. He had never done anything like this before.

"Eve, after all that has happened over the last month, I realized I need you in my life. And I was kind of hoping to make it permanent."

Eve now knew why Greg had been quieter during the meal. She felt butterflies in her stomach as he pulled the small box and opened it up to reveal an emerald shaped diamond ring.

"Eve, will you marry me?" Greg's eyes were hopeful as he watched her stare at the ring.

She lifted her moist eyes to him. "Yes, of course I will." She leaned over the table and kissed him.

He slipped the ring on her finger after the kiss. She looked at it on her hand for a moment, hardly believing what had just happened. She really did not think he was thinking about marriage at all, but he surprised her for sure and this one she loved.

"So you like it," Greg laughed as she continued to stare at it.

Her eyes met his. "I love it, but not as much as I love you."

Greg eyes sparked with playfulness. "You think you can prove it to me back in our room?"

Her own mischievous smile emerged. "I can prove it and then some." She got up and started heading to the room, with Greg right behind her.


End file.
